What Spells Are Known in Your Setting?

[Loonook]

I have actually been using this system in my game since, well reading it in 2e. I even developed NPC Designer to create spell lists based off this same idea so it could be of better use to me then just blind generation.

On those occasions spell users can select a spell, I normally only allow them access to "common" spells unless they either have access to or provide means to allow different spells to be added to this list for them. I personally think this adds a lot of depth to the campaign.

That is fantastic; I would love to see your output with that .

On another note to everyone:

What do you consider your 'lost' spells or 'rare' spells in a setting? Perhaps it may be Epic spells, or great spells that are beyond reach for one reason or another.


I have also been thinking about Tolaria and the Academy. Get a lot of powerful archmagi around, there is a very good chance SOMETHING is going to blow up/planeshift/exile itself into the Nothing.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[DogBackward]

Generally, I say that anything in the core book (PHb in 3.5., Core Rules in Pathfinder) is up for grabs: these are the spells that are common enough that any school or mages or gathering of wizards will allow them to be shared. Anything from a different book has to be researched or hunted down, and certain spells may only be known by certain mages who must be bargained with. Usually, I decide this on a case-by-case basis, when one of my characters lets me know they're interested in a non-core spell.

 

[Lwaxy]

In one of the games, teleport (and a few similar spells we custom made) was a lost spell after it was banned by the empress for a long time. Basically, I wanted the PCs to travel more and not just teleport all over. The spell was eventually rediscovered though.

 

[Vascant]

That is fantastic; I would love to see your output with that .

On another note to everyone:

What do you consider your 'lost' spells or 'rare' spells in a setting? Perhaps it may be Epic spells, or great spells that are beyond reach for one reason or another.


I have also been thinking about Tolaria and the Academy. Get a lot of powerful archmagi around, there is a very good chance SOMETHING is going to blow up/planeshift/exile itself into the Nothing.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

All Epic spells are either exceedingly rare or unique so I don't put them on this list, they will never be accidentally found.

So with the normal list of spells I have done things like, all named spells are either rare, very rare or unique. (When a spell is unique it is only in the original creators spellbook). Limited wish is rare and Wish is exceedingly rare (8 locations that it is exists in my game world). I have managed players from bouncing all over the place by limiting the availability of the Teleport spell.

Basically I have used this system to control how powerful players can really become, no one has a set of spellbooks with all the spells. This is also how I limit players from making anything then want or can imagine.

I don't have any spells I consider "Lost", though I do have some spells that I list as "not found". An example of this would be Simulacrum, the side effect of doing this has one of my players everytime he catches a rumor or something of a person dying and turning to snow and ice suddenly he is trying to get the rest of the group to head in that direction because he wants this spell for his tower. The other side effect of this is he is considering trying to create the spell himself and has started the daunting task of building a library on the needed topics to even begin such research.

That all being said, from what I have read on different threads I am lucky to have such a great group of players who enjoy a more challenging campaign. I also owe a lot to my first DM who showed me at a very early age there was more to this game then killing and looting.

 

[the Jester]

It depends on what region of the campaign you are in/from.

For instance, the shadow magic spells (in 2e and 3e) were far more common near Strogass, spells that deal with plants or poison are far more common near Pesh, spells involving light effects are far more common in Forinthia, etc.

 

[Voadam]

I had a vague system for general spell generation I sometimes used for populating enemy spellbooks randomly in 3e.

50% chance for PH spells.

If not then 50% chance for world specific sourcebooks (Complete Book of Eldritch Might for my Ptolus Game).

If not then 50% chance for generic spell sourcebooks (originally Tome and Blood but then later also Spells & Magic, Spells & Spellcraft - Fantasy Flight Games | RPGNow.com, Arcane Strife,and eventually Spell Compendium).

If not then 50% for other campaign specific sourcebook (Relics and Rituals I & II, Magic of Faerun)

And then littler sourcebooks.

I'd usually start out with some core ones that seemed appropriate immediately then fill out a bunch of wholes from one randomly generated sourcebook and only move on to another if it didn't have anything appropriate for that level I was trying to fill. If I was feeling I had tons of time I might generate each spell individually but usually they would be grouped from one source corresponding to one caster giving them a distinctive feel in play.

Having an Aboleth mage's spellbook be filled with spells from Arcane Strife added the alien nature of the encounter and loot for the party arcane trickster.

 

[Alzrius]

Was that spell rarity rating system published anywhere outside of the Wizard's (and, I think, the Priest's) Spell Compendium series?

 

[the Jester]

Was that spell rarity rating system published anywhere outside of the Wizard's (and, I think, the Priest's) Spell Compendium series?

IIRC it was actually from the 1e (or was it 2e?) FR hardback book.

 

[David Howery]

I never really placed any restrictions on spell availability in my campaigns... except for Stoneskin. Lord, that spell was a huge pain in the butt, and after dealing with the hassle of having every PC in the party loaded up with stoneskins, I ended up banning it for a while. Later, I relented and made it available but changed the rules to allow it to work only for the mage who casts it (on himself only... they really did need the protection). Outside of that, I generally let the player choose a spell for his book every time he went up a level, and kept a tight rein on what I allowed them to find outside of that.

 

[bloodtide]

Known spells

I place lots and lots of restrictions on known spells.

The Players Handbook represents the list of the 'most common' spells, plus a couple dozen more from other books as 'common'. A good third of the spells are 'uncommon', and another third are 'rare'. With the final categories of 'very rare' and 'unique' as special categories(unique is that one person knows the spell, very rare is less then ten).

In general, a simple spell like 'create water' is common, but a spell like 'alter time flow' is rare.

From this base, spells are further restricted by location, type and race/culture. Location is simply that sea faring spells are only found in place that have sea access and the like. Type is that in general only 'good' spells are freely available in most places, depending a bit on the place. For example, most black necromancy spells are rare among normal spellcasters, and merchant cities make it hard to get mind control type spells. Most protection type spells and helpful spells are common. And race is simply that each race and/or culture has preferences for different types of magic.