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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What "backdoors" did wizards built into the spells named after them?
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<blockquote data-quote="MNblockhead" data-source="post: 7529066" data-attributes="member: 6796661"><p>The reverse of this idea could make for a great campaign hook or villain. For higher-level spells, perhaps some great powers are upset with their existence and not pleased with the Wizard who invented them and let those secrets out into the world. </p><p></p><p>This might work best as a mid-tier complication, so the spell should not be too high level and it should be a spell that the wizard is likely to cast with some frequency. It would also be good if in your campaign world the spell is not widely known and the wizard can't just select it from the player's handbook, but instead comes across it in her explorations. You also wouldn't want to make it a much loved spell like fireball. It needs to be a helpful spell but one that wouldn't ruin the game for your players if they didn't have it, unless you want to force them into a life or death battle over the spell. </p><p></p><p>For example, perhaps with <em>Otto's Irresistible Dance</em>, Otto was able to create the spell after stealing magic secrets of the fey, angering an arch-fey. Every time this spell is cast, Otto suffers a level of exhaustion, which he much cure with rest and magic. He has spent many years hunting down all copies of the spell, entreating or forcing wizards to remove it from their spell books, destroying scrolls, etc. Otto hunt's down the wizard in your party using it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MNblockhead, post: 7529066, member: 6796661"] The reverse of this idea could make for a great campaign hook or villain. For higher-level spells, perhaps some great powers are upset with their existence and not pleased with the Wizard who invented them and let those secrets out into the world. This might work best as a mid-tier complication, so the spell should not be too high level and it should be a spell that the wizard is likely to cast with some frequency. It would also be good if in your campaign world the spell is not widely known and the wizard can't just select it from the player's handbook, but instead comes across it in her explorations. You also wouldn't want to make it a much loved spell like fireball. It needs to be a helpful spell but one that wouldn't ruin the game for your players if they didn't have it, unless you want to force them into a life or death battle over the spell. For example, perhaps with [I]Otto's Irresistible Dance[/I], Otto was able to create the spell after stealing magic secrets of the fey, angering an arch-fey. Every time this spell is cast, Otto suffers a level of exhaustion, which he much cure with rest and magic. He has spent many years hunting down all copies of the spell, entreating or forcing wizards to remove it from their spell books, destroying scrolls, etc. Otto hunt's down the wizard in your party using it. [/QUOTE]
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What "backdoors" did wizards built into the spells named after them?
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