The proper Fireball

[DonAdam]

Mage is not a gender specific word so the word "magistress" is just silly and implies that mages are inherently men, thus supporting the ancient men are better shtick that most of the educated people in the word are trying to get rid of.

How about we not discuss these things on RPG message boards?

I use exclusively masculine pronouns, and have my own reasons for doing so. However, this is not the place to discuss them. Unless someone is trying to be offensive, there's no reason to clutter the boards with this kind of argument.

 

[Michael Morris]

Re: GENDER RANT FROM A LINGUIST!!!!!

[rant]
Mage is not a gender specific word so the word "magistress" is just silly and implies that mages are inherently men, thus supporting the ancient men are better shtick that most of the educated people in the word are trying to get rid of.

The same is true of
actor (even many award shows have gotten rid of actress)

Name one. The truth is, the award show is the only place where the term actress is still regularly used.

I think you get the idea. Our historically sexist ideas make us think that the default must be male so we need another word to identify the female. We come up with these words thinking we're being enlightened but we aren't. We are just perpetuating the whole problem by refusing to change the core assumption.

[/rant]

DC

My turn

[rant]

And now for an extremely blunt and honest statement:

Take your Politically Correct rant and shove it were the sun don't shine!

And don't use "we." YOU might have sexist ideas that motivates YOUR use of the gender specific pronouns, but that doesn't mean that I or anyone else does. Speak only for YOURSELF and do not insult my intelligence by pretending to know the motivation and intent behind my word choices.

I personally hate the improper use of the plural first and third person pronouns in an attempt to split people up into idealogical camps. YOU can only speak for yourself, therefore use only the pronoun I and do not attempt to speak for anyone else on this or any other issue.

I use the feminine form "sorceress" and I have coined others in my settings and in my made up languages not out of misogeny, but in recogninition of the fact that women can and do fill these roles. I want to make it clear that in addition to being the one of the most powerful sorcerers (male or female) in all the land, Telsindria is a woman. Name another setting that has a woman in the role of "most powerful caster / DM avatar." You won't quickly find one but you do find plenty of men in that role - Elminster, Merlin, Raistlin, Gandalf to quickly name four. I want it to be clear what and who Telsindria is. This also goes for my other characters.

That English grammar has the masuculine pronoun as a default is not something in my control. If this irks you, that's just too bad.

To sum up your rant, in the name of correcting this gross sexist insult to all women you would have us drop the mention of women from the structure of the language at all times and rob women of their gender identity. In order not to insult women you choose to hide them entirely.

That isn't any solution - that's a problem in it's own right.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

The purpose of this thread is for creative (read: wild, outrageous, imaginative) spell descriptions.

When the Moderators see what you have done, and they close this thread because of what you have done, I will start a new thread and continue my spell descriptions on that thread.

I will continue to use the term magistress.
The term magistress comes from OFFICIAL WOTC products.
I do not use the word for the purposes of being political, sexist, or anything of the sort - that kind of talk is banned on the ENBoards, and I adhere to the ENBoard rules.

 

[Jack Daniel]

Sorry, you lost me when you mentioned "the Weave." As if fireballs are a 50% cotton-polyesther blend.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Weave is a Forgotten Realms term.
References to the Weave can be found in the FRCS, and any FR products that refer heavily to magic.

 

[trentonjoe]

I am a little unsure as to the purpose of this post. IF it meant to merely describe evocation spells it should probably go into another forum. Story hour maybe?

If you want your new rules discussed, I think the spells are fine but they should not be 3rd level spells. Fifth level is probably more appropriate.

Maybe there could be a "knockdown" effect associated with the blast damage as well. Balance check would seem appropraite. Maybe 10 + damge dealt?

 

[Ace]

Re: Not exactly.

Fireball is a pressureless blast of searing heat that can, at best, vaporize a few inches of skin and muscle from someone who doesn't move to cover themselves quickly. No less instantly fatal, though.

You're thinking of the 9th level Hackmaster spell Show-No-Mercy Fireball, which does d10 per caster level.

Or the Epic Spell Vaporize, which does 20d20 points of Fire damage and 4d20 points of bludgeoning damage to everything in the radius of effect.

But that's not a Fireball spell you're talking about.

Great flavor text, though.

I like the flavor text too

here is an OGL spell of mine (first appeared in D20 weekly 11/20/02) that suits the flavor text

Hellblast

Evocation [Fire]
Level: Sor/Wiz 9
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Effect: 100’ Blast of fire
Duration: Instant (1 blast)
Saving Throw: Reflex for 1/2
Spell Resistance: Yes

The caster of this spell calls a gigantic blast of fire doing 20d6 to everyone in a hundred foot radius. Anyone failing the save against the spell is stunned for one round and is knocked prone.

The material component of the spell is a fragment of a meteor

 

[Anabstercorian]

The Proper Magic Missile

Upon casting this spell, subtle energies flare up along the casters whole body, as though the magi was shrouded in incandescent fog. The energy quickly flows along the body to the casters fingertips, where upon it coalesces in to visible forms of glowing mass. Silently they dart from the casters fingers like hummingbirds, unerringly dodging defenses and obstruction to strike soundly in to their opponent, striking with a blow like a sling bullet, snapping bones and tearing flesh, punching open skulls or through intestines. Yet skilled warriors can move just right so as to minimize these blows, coming away with little more than mild bruises as the suddenly bedeviled bolts skim across their body.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

The purpose of this thread is to see if creative spell descriptions can be given for the standard spells in the Player's Handbook.
Because we are discussing, or posting, custom descriptions, I placed this thread here in House Rules and not in Rules.

Hellblast sounds like a nasty spell.
A spell for incinerating an entire village with one good blast. Or, half the dungeons, with said blast.

- - -

The Proper Magic Missile (my version)

Magic Missile
Level: Wizard/Sorcerer 1

When the mage casts this spell, the Weave becomes visible to him, flaring into brilliant outline, even as a considerable amount of magical might comes flowing into him from said Weave.
The mage selects one or more targets within range, then looses this incoming magical might, which bursts forth as one shining silver bolt after another (to the target, they appear as balls of incandescent fury), roaring through the air like rocks thrown by a giant, and unerringly hitting the target or targets with shattering force.
The mage must be able to see the target or targets when firing his missiles (although said target or targets might well move out of sight before the missiles hit.)
The spell empowers the mage to perceive the Weave signature around the target or targets (just as he can perceive the Weave around himself) and once his missiles are fired they hone in on that signature, and rocket unerringly into the hapless target or targets.
The magical energies bypass armor or clothing worn by the target (the missiles will not affect anything that is dead), and impact straight into the target's flesh.
Magical energies roar up, down, and through the target's body, racing through bone and flesh, transforming the target into a marque of flashing light - purple, silver, green, red, as the target convulses from the power, writhing wildly, jerking and dancing like a puppet whose strings are being pulled by a madman.
This direct exposure to Mystra causes overwhelming sensations to the target, ranging the gamut from pleasurable to painful. With each new missile hit, the pain will multiply horrendously until it whelms out all other sensations.
The sudden perception of Mystra, in her full might, is overwhelming to the target's brain: it is a terrifying and overawing sight, which cannot be looked away from while the missiles are striking, and Mystra's essence is wreaking havoc across the target's body.
Enough damage will cause the target to go into shock from physical and psychological damage and trauma. The target will quickly slip into a coma and then die.

The full might and spectacle of Mystra is too much for any normal creature to withstand, if that creature is subjected to enough of Mystra's essence.

The Dry Stuff:

This spell generates one missile if the mage is 1st level, and 1 missile per 2 levels the mage is higher than 1st, up to a maximum of 5 missiles if the mage is 9th level.
Each missile inflicts 1d4 + 1 hit points of damage to a living or undead target. Unliving material will never be affected by Magic Missile.
No saving throw is allowed against this spell, and if the target is within sight of the mage when the missiles are fired they will unerringly strike, regardless of what the target does to protect himself.

 

[Ace]

The purpose of this thread is to see if creative spell descriptions can be given for the standard spells in the Player's Handbook.
Because we are discussing, or posting, custom descriptions, I placed this thread here in House Rules and not in Rules.

Hellblast sounds like a nasty spell.
A spell for incinerating an entire village with one good blast. Or, half the dungeons, with said blast.

- - -

I am glad you liked hellblast. I am aware of the threads purpose, I just wanted to invert it for a moment and provide a spell that fits your description is all.

I like your flavor text for the most part with one caveat

The description of the spells implies that magic is rare and powerfull and awe inspiring in you game. That not a bad thing but that isn't the case in every game

I would describe fireball as this

"You have seen it all before, a streaking sphere of fire the size of an apple hurls through the sky and lands is a burst of flame at you feet. "

or magic missile "Glowing daggers of red light spring from the guys fingertip striking Bob (Iconic Fighter) with a hiss. These look just like the ones you mage through at the ghouls yesterday"

After a while magic might be scary but once the risks are understood it is as common as say a mortar would be on a modern battle field

When the charcters have been around for a while I stop describing spells all together, I just name them. I mean after the twentieth magic missile attack you are going to know what they are and what they can do

Still keep up the good work, I rarely if ever see flavor threads