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Tiadoppler
2019-07-05, 03:16 PM
What sorts of spells should exist in a high-magic world for uses outside of combat and adventuring? What would spellcasters want to research? What effects would be desirable from the perspective of a wizard entrepreneur who wants to sell their spells and items to businesses, communities and well-off individuals? What spells would the average non-adventurer spellcaster have prepared on a normal day in a quiet town?


So far the list includes 47 new spells for 5th edition, with utility effects ranging from dowsing, to animating wagons, to creating safe campsites, and a small variety of (hopefully) balanced combat spells with unique effects.

Miscellaneous Spells - Homebrewery (https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/HJg-3Lnlr) (Best viewed on Chrome, but Firefox should work okay too)

Let me know what you think!

Warning:

Some of these spells, especially the ones that are newly added, are still in the Work-In-Progress stage. I do not have a perfect understanding of every rules interaction in 5e, and some spells may be unbalanced as a result. If you find a flaw or exploit in one of these spells, please post your concerns and I'll try to fix the spell or explain why the spell is written in that way.

Warning 2: Son of Warning

Not all of these spells are suitable for every campaign. Spells like Excruciating Disruption (permadeath), Friendship Beam (reform the BBEG with the power of friendship), Rejuvenate (eternal life), and the Vehicular Motivation (steampunk/magitech) spells are best suited to certain genres of game. If you decide to use this spell list for your campaign, please feel free to exclude specific spells that do not match your desired play style.

Bjarkmundur
2019-07-07, 12:40 PM
Can I link this to my players, if they'd want to use any of these? I think they are really well made ^^

Are these conversions or your own spells?
Could you put some spell list suggestions at the bottom of each spell, to make them easier to add to a game for those less verse in the art of spell listings? :)

Tiadoppler
2019-07-07, 03:07 PM
Thanks a bunch! Feel free to use them in a game, and please throw me some feedback if you notice some weird interactions. I've gone in and added a line showing which classes should have access to each spell (more or less).

I did write the mechanics for each spell, but the inspirations/high concepts came from many sources:



Locate Water - Based on the concept of Dowsing.
Vehicular Motivation - Based on any number of magically-powered vehicles throughout fiction
Track Object - Why isn't this a thing?? It's so freaking useful for investigations.
Excruciating Disruption - A great BBEG spell. Use it on elderly mentors for extra fun!
Scry Self - It's a mirror, a periscope, and a way to look through doors and walls. Also lets you play D&D in 3rd person, if that's your jam.
Illusory Hair and Style - Player requests... Bards, man, I don't know.
Stonesense and Locate Ore - Dwarves would have made these spells. Planning mines. Building foundations. Finding weak points.
Throw Person - This one's just fun. Low damage but great for repositioning people. Deadly near canyons.
Preserve Food, Repel Vermin - Let's be honest. These spells would exist in D&D, but they're just too boring to include in the PHB.
Smoke Bane - If Water Breathing's great for swimmers, what would firefighters want before going into a burning building?
Disperse Moisture - A roleplay spell which has little actual mechanical effect.
Wayfarer's Step - Useful for exploration. Mostly an alternative to having mounts.
Rejuvenate - Isn't this something that Wizards would be researching, as an alternative to lichdom or cloning
Suppress Enchantment, Acquire Object, Arcane Aphasia, Cold Feet - Based (sometimes loosely) on various Harry Potter spells



I'm continuously looking for more ideas for spells to write - especially low-level spells that don't already exist in D&D, but should exist.

Tiadoppler
2019-07-07, 08:39 PM
Just added Transcribe, which starts out at level 1 as a great way to take notes in boring lectures, and finishes up at level 9 as a versatile espionage/interrogation tool.

Next up is a walkie-talkie spell. Targets up to 6 people. For the duration, each target can hear every word the others say, as long as they're within a mile (or 10 miles) of each other. Probably not concentration, but duration 1 hour or 4 hours, and a fairly high level spell (for me). At least level 3.

SamIamNot
2019-07-12, 11:51 AM
You may want to convert that old Spark of Life spell into the game.

BerzerkerUnit
2019-07-12, 01:47 PM
I think the Message Cantrip is your walki talkie spell. After that there’s Sending and Telepathic Bond.

Tiadoppler
2019-07-12, 11:59 PM
I think the Message Cantrip is your walki talkie spell. After that there’s Sending and Telepathic Bond.

I made Windborne Whispers as a halfway point between Message and Telepathic Bond. It's lower level than Telepathic Bond, and lasts longer, but it isn't silent like Telepathy, doesn't bypass languages, and has limited range.

(Edit: Windborne Whispers is probably a bit more generally useful than Telepathic Bond. Because it's a lower level spell, people will actually use it: it'll have a niche for mid-range coordination, especially for sneak attacks and heists and the like.)




I'm going to post a couple more spells tomorrow, I just have to finalize the formatting and spell descriptions:


> Secret Glade makes a hidden long-rest campsite out of natural, living vegetation

> Sacred Grove is like a weaker and larger Guards and Wards for druids who want to keep a section of forest pristine I completely missed the existence of Druid Grove in XGtE. Never mind.

> Rainbow Bridge is a utility spell allowing carts and mounts and other awkward/heavy loads to cross ravines, rivers, and bottomless pits.

> Carve Wood (final name TBD) softens a wooden object no greater than 5' across, allowing it to be easily cut with any blade.

> Breach smashes 5' holes through walls of various thicknesses (depending on material). It may also cause shrapnel: small amount of piercing damage to creatures in a 15' cone. This one isn't even drafted yet.

sandmote
2019-07-13, 08:48 AM
I would like to suggest rolling Disperse Moisture and Smoke Bane into a single second level spell called Disperse Smoke or Moisture.

Destroying the fog in a 30 foot cube is already part of Create or Destroy Water, and Disperse Moisture can be used in areas of heavy fog to avoid being blinded (for 8 hours). The effect is far stronger.

For Smoke Bane, hedging out the smoke (instead of merely seeing through it) would mean the spell doesn't need to make you immune to Stinking Cloud and similar effects. This would also protect anyone being rescued by the spell's target. Either way, not needing to breath should really be a much higher level effect.

Going down the list of planned spells:

Tidal Wave explicitly puts out flames over a fairly wide area.
Create or Destroy Water has a light rain/drizzle option.
Detect Poison and Disease also diagnoses them.

Druid Grove is a nature themed version of Guards and Wards.
Unless its a cantrip, Carve Wood might as well be Shape Wood and let you shape it using the spell. 2nd or 3rd level for that.

Edit: Stone Shape is 4th level, so Breach would probably need to be higher level and a Shape Wood spell would work best if slightly lower level.

Tiadoppler
2019-07-13, 12:17 PM
Thanks for all the feedback! I got a lot of useful info out of it!



Destroying the fog in a 30 foot cube is already part of Create or Destroy Water, and Disperse Moisture can be used in areas of heavy fog to avoid being blinded (for 8 hours). The effect is far stronger.

Argh, I hate the way 5e handles obscuring rules. IMO, heavy natural fog shouldn't necessarily blind you the moment you enter it: it should limit your maximum vision range to varying degrees. I'm going to have to come back and revise Disperse Moisture later.

As a DM, when I put my players into heavy fog, it tends to limit them to about 30' of clear vision, and this spell would push that out to 40': a relatively minor improvement. That's just a houserule, though, and I want these spells to play nicely with RAW.


For Smoke Bane, hedging out the smoke (instead of merely seeing through it) would mean the spell doesn't need to make you immune to Stinking Cloud and similar effects. This would also protect anyone being rescued by the spell's target. Either way, not needing to breath should really be a much higher level effect.

I don't disagree. On one hand, characters can already hold their breath for 1+CON minutes (at least 30 seconds. Most adventurers are probably at around 3 minutes), on the other hand, 10 minutes is a long time. What would you think of changing it to one of the following effects:


Duration decreases to "Concentration, up to 5 minutes"
"You can breath non-magical smoke as if it were clean air for the duration"
"You can hold your breath for twice as long"




Tidal Wave explicitly puts out flames over a fairly wide area.
Create or Destroy Water has a light rain/drizzle option.
Detect Poison and Disease also diagnoses them.

I see Extinguish as a bit bigger, but a lot less damaging than Tidal Wave. I may increase radius and decrease damage.

The light rain/drizzle spell I'd like to make would be somewhere around a mile wide - something that could actually be a useful spell for mid level NPC casters to use on farmland during a drought. Perhaps 4th- or 5th-level, with an expensive consumed material component.


Druid Grove is a nature themed version of Guards and Wards.
Unless its a cantrip, Carve Wood might as well be Shape Wood and let you shape it using the spell. 2nd or 3rd level for that.

Somehow I missed that Druid Grove was already a spell. My bad.

I think Carve/Shape Wood would be level 3.


Edit: Stone Shape is 4th level, so Breach would probably need to be higher level and a Shape Wood spell would work best if slightly lower level.

I understand where you're coming from. My thought was that Breach would work on wood up to 2 feet thick, stone up to 1 foot thick, and metal up to 2 inches thick. It would be a more specific niche than either Stone Shape or Shape/Carve Wood, and it wouldn't surpass either of them in their specific areas. I was thinking Breach would be 3rd level, but I can see the argument for 4th level.

sandmote
2019-07-14, 01:49 PM
Argh, I hate the way 5e handles obscuring rules. IMO, heavy natural fog shouldn't necessarily blind you the moment you enter it: it should limit your maximum vision range to varying degrees. I'm going to have to come back and revise Disperse Moisture later.

As a DM, when I put my players into heavy fog, it tends to limit them to about 30' of clear vision, and this spell would push that out to 40': a relatively minor improvement. That's just a houserule, though, and I want these spells to play nicely with RAW.

I don't disagree. On one hand, characters can already hold their breath for 1+CON minutes (at least 30 seconds. Most adventurers are probably at around 3 minutes), on the other hand, 10 minutes is a long time. What would you think of changing it to one of the following effects:


Duration decreases to "Concentration, up to 5 minutes"
"You can breath non-magical smoke as if it were clean air for the duration"
"You can hold your breath for twice as long"
On paper I prefer the 3.5e concealment rules, although I haven't had the chance to try them. If you bump Disperse Moisture up to second level it should be fine by RAW.

To respond to what you have asked, the second option for is probably the simplest (as 5 min duration isn't standard). However, if the spell is supposed to be used by firefighters to rescue people, I still think it should also help protect anyone right next to the target of the spell.

However, I forgot about the Warding Wind spell while I was writing my previous reply. Having remembered it exists, I'd like to revise my suggestion. A 1 minute concentration cantrip with the description "It hedges out nonmagical smoke, gas, and fog that can be dispersed by strong wind within 5 feet." That would avoid simply being a new version of Warding Wind while being easier to access for firefighters/fantasy scots.

Something as follows:

Clear Smoke and Fog
Transmutation cantrip

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: self
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

This spell hedges out nonmagical smoke, gas, and fog that can be dispersed by strong wind within 5 feet, allowing you and creatures in this radius to see and breath safely.

(Artificer, Bard, Druid, Cleric, Wizard)


I see Extinguish as a bit bigger, but a lot less damaging than Tidal Wave. I may increase radius and decrease damage.

The light rain/drizzle spell I'd like to make would be somewhere around a mile wide - something that could actually be a useful spell for mid level NPC casters to use on farmland during a drought. Perhaps 4th- or 5th-level, with an expensive consumed material component. A 5th level Replenishing Rain with a 1 mile radius and a gp cost would probably work as an emergency anti-drought spell between Plant Growth (which I assume gets casts in most farming areas even in medium magic settings) and Control Weather. You could also have it extinguish flames exposed to the sky in that area, giving it additional utility for dealing with massive fires.


I think Carve/Shape Wood would be level 3.



I understand where you're coming from. My thought was that Breach would work on wood up to 2 feet thick, stone up to 1 foot thick, and metal up to 2 inches thick. It would be a more specific niche than either Stone Shape or Shape/Carve Wood, and it wouldn't surpass either of them in their specific areas. I was thinking Breach would be 3rd level, but I can see the argument for 4th level.
I feel I should note that as I wasn't sure what you wanted breach to do.

I figure you should allow Mold Earth to be used for pottery if the clay starts being fired before the spell ends, and an equivalent for "bend natural wood into a shape that still needs to be worked" could be a cantrip. Otherwise, yeah, 3rd level should be good for a proper Shape Wood spell.

Tiadoppler
2019-07-14, 08:00 PM
snip

Thanks for the feedback! I really need to read XGtE more carefully: I keep forgetting the spells from that book. Warding Wind is a great utility spell, and very similar to the effects of Smoke Bane. So I'll change it around a bit to give it a separate niche.

Given that there's already a concentration spell that gets rid of the harmful effects of non-magical smoke, the niche I want to fill is a spell that let's you see through non-magical smoke/fog. A spell that could be used in conjunction with Warding Wind (so not a concentration spell). I'm thinking:

Smoke Sense
1st-level transmutation
Duration: 10 minutes
Until the spell ends, the target can see through non-magical smokes, fogs, mists and clouds out to a distance of 60', without penalty.
At Higher Levels. Target one additional creature per level.

I like the 5th-level rain spell a lot - it's something that might actually be accessible in low-magic campaign settings.

sandmote
2019-07-15, 09:55 PM
Thanks for the feedback! I really need to read XGtE more carefully: I keep forgetting the spells from that book. Warding Wind is a great utility spell, and very similar to the effects of Smoke Bane. So I'll change it around a bit to give it a separate niche.

Given that there's already a concentration spell that gets rid of the harmful effects of non-magical smoke, the niche I want to fill is a spell that let's you see through non-magical smoke/fog. A spell that could be used in conjunction with Warding Wind (so not a concentration spell). I'm thinking:

Smoke Sense
1st-level transmutation
Duration: 10 minutes
Until the spell ends, the target can see through non-magical smokes, fogs, mists and clouds out to a distance of 60', without penalty.
At Higher Levels. Target one additional creature per level.

I like the 5th-level rain spell a lot - it's something that might actually be accessible in low-magic campaign settings.Given your houserule, that spell seems perfectly fine.

To give a bit more thought to the rain spell:


Refreshing Rain
5th-level transmutation
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Self (1 mile sphere)
Components: V, S, M (50 worth of powered silver, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Concentration, up to 8 hours.

Rain falls in a 1 mile radius centered on your location, extinguishing flames exposed to the sky for as long as the rain lasts. Walkways beneath the rain remain supernaturally dry and do not become slippery or hazardous terrain. Additionally, earth and soil that has become hazardous terrain (such as created by the Erupting Earth spell) is cleared if the rain falls on it for at least 1 minute.

If you concentrate on this spell for the full duration, reservoirs and natural bodies of water within the spell's effect refill to their normal level, and plants damaged by drought that are exposed to the rain return to full health from even the brink of death. Both of these effects remain for 1 week, after which water levels fall and plants dry as normal.

Basically a major firefighting spell when cast, and a way to deal with drought. I'm not entirely sure about the cost, but silver iodide is used to seed clouds IRL, so a silver requirement seems fitting.

Tiadoppler
2019-07-21, 11:35 AM
New Spells:

Breach
Ovation
Rain Cloud
Rainbow Bridge

Adjusted Spells:

Teleport Object changed to Transport Item. Buffed. Now scales by spell slot.
Smoke Bane changed to Smoke Eyes. Reduced level and effects.
Extinguish damage reduced, level reduced.
Disperse Moisture no longer drives away mist or fog, preventing weird abuse scenarios.

Tiadoppler
2019-07-22, 11:22 AM
New Spells:

Barrage - magic missile as a cantrip [Experimental. PEACH]
Magewield - mid-level spell that allows wizards and bards to wield weapons telekinetically (increasing reach)
Scintillating Bolt - reliable attack spell that can adjust saving throw ability to target enemies' weak points [Experimental. PEACH]
Variable Dart - reliable attack spell that can adjust damage type for vulnerabilities (based loosely on 4e's Unraveling Dart)

Adjusted Spells:

Throw Person now deals a little bit of force damage

Breccia
2019-07-22, 01:41 PM
I will give my subjective opinions in alphabetical order:

Maybe.
No.
Yes.

Just kidding. Now I'll give my subjective opinions about the spells in alphabetical order:

Acquire Object/Transport Object: these can be merged. Make transport object first level.

Arcane Aphasia: as it stands, it seems like a limited version of silence. Nothing says they can't cast spells (can they?) but silencing someone means they can't understand or speak to people, because they can't hear them at all. Or cast spells. Or scream in terror, bringing help even if the scream sounds like "GLOOOOOOOOOORGE!" Or hear the rogue sneaking up on them. It could be 1st level, or better yet, not require Concentration.

Barrage: I hate the idea of a cantrip that never misses, has no saving throw, and uses a damage type that basically nobody resists. Sorry, but that's my opinion. Cantrips are weak spells, they need a flaw, and the low damage isn't enough for me.

Breach: blowing a hole in a wall made of stone or metal might be beyond what a 3rd level spell is supposed to do. Also, won't it 100% hit the caster? It's touch range. I'm going to recommend splitting this into two spells, one that does damage spraying from a solid surface (possibly a fun addition for clerics of earth) and something that cuts a hole in a wall based on thickness and material (i.e. no fair blowing a 10 foot deep hole in a solid steel wall).

Cold Feet: seems like a minor variant of slow. So already I like it. Problem is, they can save every round...so the higher level versions are useless. I recommend instead multiple targets.

Disperse Moisture: you should add a line saying that it doesn't work underwater, because otherwise, a 5-foot radius globe of air that lasts 24 hours is too strong for a 1st level spell.

Excrutiating Disruption: This spell isn't going to do what you want it to do. First of all, the damage is low. Second of all, out right killing someone with the spell is not easy with the 5E rules about dying. Third of all, the spell has to be cast at 5th level for the special effect to kick in, for the most part. And finally of all, the saving throw negates all (not half) the damage and the special. Again, I'm going to recommend a decoupling. Make a flat-out necromancy psychic damage spell. Also, make a separate curse that causes those slain, while the curse is in effect, to be locked down.

Extinguish: this utility spell could use a couple upgrades. First, it would make sense if it did more damage, or otherwise affected, fire elementals. Second, I don't see why it should be only nonmagical fires. Perhaps it could use the dispel magic rules on fire magic?

Greater/Lesser Vehicular Manslaughter: there is nothing wrong with this spell. This is gold.

Heighten Awareness: this spell is strictly worse than enhance ability, which gives Advantage to all Wisdom checks -- or any other stat -- for longer time, on other people, with no downsides. You could safely remove the penalty, and also still drop the spell to 1st level.

Illusory Hair: this fits well with your intended campaign. Can I just say, I hope someone uses this spell in combat just to make one of their enemies look ridiculous.

Locate Ore: obviously, this has extremely limited use for a standard D&D character. Obviously, that's not the point. That said, I think a higher level cast would improve the range.

Locate Water: I'll be honest, I just assumed this spell already existed. Its value is obvious.

Magewield: This has Arcane Trickster all over it. Out of curiosity, why not two-handed weapons? Why not a staff?

Ovation: HAHAHAHAHA I would so cast this after every single boss battle HAHAHAHAHA this is awesome!

Preserve Food: Okay, I like the idea you're going for, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure1. Purify food and drink is a pound of cure. There's no reason for this spell to be so much higher level. In fact, this screams "cantrip" to me. I mean, there are a lot of real-life food items that the amount of salt the spell requires, and 10 minutes, will preserve without magic.

Rain Cloud: it's a weaker control weather, so I get that. In fact, if it were my spell, I'd have the description "as control weather, except you can only change the precipitation and only up by one". Four hours to cast a rain cloud feels a tad slow, too.

Rainbow Bridge: can be countered by triple red shells.

Rejuvenate: This comes from experience: do not make a renewable source of player youth. Ever. Old age is the DM's ultimate weapon (literally) and necessary for more campaigns/storylines than you think. Perhaps a version that temporarily grants youth? Or a spell that removes magical aging? As it exists, however, this spell is a time bomb2. Don't make your PCs immortal.

Repel Vermin: add wording that makes the spell block monster vermin swarms. It's implied, but make it blatant.

Scintilating Bolt: As fun as "choice of saving throw" sounds, I can't think of a way that Charisma will block radiant damage. Dex, Con, and Wis no problem.

Scry Self: this spell is cast by pausing the game, opening the Settings menu, and selecting "Third Person View".

Smoke Eyes: the only issue I have is the spell's name, since it clearly not just smoke. It's a handy hard counter to have around.

Stone Sense: okay, there's a trap here you might not have considered. As written, PCs might make the argument that this spell automaps the dungeon they're in with a radius of 60 feet. By virtue of finding stones, they know where stones aren't. And I'm not sure the easy answer ("natural, unworked stones") will help, because then the spell is kind of weak. I'm not sure what I would do to salvage this spell.

Style: Cantrip. Also, dye job?

Suppress Enchantment: my concern with the spell is, magic weapons and armor in a lot of games (including mine) are ridiculously hard to damage. A fourth level spell, enough to suppress a sword +1, is on the borderline of how strong the spell would need to be to bypass that. Also, there needs to be a saving throw for an item held by an unwilling creature.

Throw Person: This feels like a weaker version of thunderwave. I know, it isn't, but 3d6 and a push to a single target feels weak compared to thunderwave. A higher range, maybe?

Track Object: so, it's locate object, but cast in advance. Okay, sounds useful. How about a higher level cast increasing the maximum range?

Transcribe: Again, I just kind of assumed this spell existed.

Variable Dart: this spell feels balanced to me. But I would like it better if higher levels added more darts instead of more damage. Perhaps the caster could fling multiple damage types to see what a monster resists?

Waverider: at 4th level, swim speed alone feels lackluster. Add water breathing and I'm good.

Wayfarer's Step: I know you're going for utility here, but this feels too strong. If memory serves, +2mph is about double their movement, which expeditous retreat effectively does, at the same level, but self only and 10 minutes. I'd like the spell better if it was higher level (4th, 3rd perhaps) and inherently hit multiple targets.

Windborne Voices: I love spells or effects that makes table talk canon. Basically, this is why:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1104.html

I've even run a campaign where the PCs were permanently telepathically linked. So I like this spell a lot. Yeah, I know, it's not exactly the same thing, but I still like it.

There's good spells and good potential in this list, Keep it up! I'd like to hear how PCs use them.


1Get it? Like, curing food?
2More puns!

Tiadoppler
2019-07-23, 01:32 AM
Thanks for the awesome and thorough feedback! I agree with a lot of it, and I see a bunch of spell editing in my future. Please keep in mind: my plan for these spells is that they are mostly on the weak side, and many of them are designed around NPC's needs and use cases, rather than being adventurer-specific. While there are a few good adventurer spells in here, most of them are a bit weaker than an adventurer would want to learn, except for very specific use cases.


I will give my subjective opinions in alphabetical order:

Maybe.
No.
Yes.

Yes, yes. Of course. I'll make the necessary changes.


Acquire Object/Transport Object: these can be merged. Make transport object first level.

Agreed. Acquire Object was based on the Harry Potter series' 'Accio' spell, while Transport Object was meant as a 'misty step for objects', that's why I originally wrote them as two different spells. I'll merge them.


Arcane Aphasia: as it stands, it seems like a limited version of silence. Nothing says they can't cast spells (can they?) but silencing someone means they can't understand or speak to people, because they can't hear them at all. Or cast spells. Or scream in terror, bringing help even if the scream sounds like "GLOOOOOOOOOORGE!" Or hear the rogue sneaking up on them. It could be 1st level, or better yet, not require Concentration.

Arcane Aphasia specifically states that they can still perform spells, and only penalizes verbal communication. Taking away concentration seems like a reasonable balance change.


Barrage: I hate the idea of a cantrip that never misses, has no saving throw, and uses a damage type that basically nobody resists. Sorry, but that's my opinion. Cantrips are weak spells, they need a flaw, and the low damage isn't enough for me.

I agree and disagree. Yes, auto-hit is a dangerous game mechanic to include, but I find that cantrips generally meet or surpass the effectiveness of 1st level damage spells at level 11, when they reach 3 damage dice.

Barrage doesn't really surpass Magic Missile's effectiveness ever (Barrage: 4d4 damage at level 17 = 10 expected damage. Magic Missile: 3d4+3 = 10.5 expected damage). Personally, I think Barrage will be a niche cantrip, especially given Eldritch Blast's dominance. I'm going to leave it as is for another day or two while I think about it.


Breach: blowing a hole in a wall made of stone or metal might be beyond what a 3rd level spell is supposed to do. Also, won't it 100% hit the caster? It's touch range. I'm going to recommend splitting this into two spells, one that does damage spraying from a solid surface (possibly a fun addition for clerics of earth) and something that cuts a hole in a wall based on thickness and material (i.e. no fair blowing a 10 foot deep hole in a solid steel wall).

My intention was that the damage cone would originate from the wall, and the spellcaster could direct it inwards (to damage people on the inside of the wall) or outwards (damaging themselves, but protecting people on the inside of the wall). The damage wording's clunky and imprecise though. I'll have to fix it (or rewrite the concept).

As-is, the spell can only destroy 1 foot of stone (or 2 feet of wood, or 2 inches of metal). It's primary purpose was to make a wall-breaking spell in the vein of Shatter (destroy stuff) or Knock (get into a place).

I'm probably going to think about how this spell could get better at higher levels - maybe increasing the thickness of the affected wall, but also decrease it's effectiveness at 3rd level.


Cold Feet: seems like a minor variant of slow. So already I like it. Problem is, they can save every round...so the higher level versions are useless. I recommend instead multiple targets.

Fair enough. I'll make the change.


Disperse Moisture: you should add a line saying that it doesn't work underwater, because otherwise, a 5-foot radius globe of air that lasts 24 hours is too strong for a 1st level spell.

To be fair, the spell only redirects rain, snow, sleet and hail, not standing water, but I agree that some cheeky player will try to make the argument, so I'll add a line to specify that.


Excrutiating Disruption: This spell isn't going to do what you want it to do. First of all, the damage is low. Second of all, out right killing someone with the spell is not easy with the 5E rules about dying. Third of all, the spell has to be cast at 5th level for the special effect to kick in, for the most part. And finally of all, the saving throw negates all (not half) the damage and the special. Again, I'm going to recommend a decoupling. Make a flat-out necromancy psychic damage spell. Also, make a separate curse that causes those slain, while the curse is in effect, to be locked down.

This was meant mostly as a big bad enemy spell, and one that is most useful against NPCs. At 3rd level, blocking Revivify in-combat is kind of nasty, and at 9th level it can even shut down True Resurrection. The goal isn't actually to perma-kill the players. The goal is to create fear of permadeath, and allow interesting plot scenarios (like important NPCs permanently dying, even in high-magic, high-level campaigns where resurrections aren't uncommon).

Adding save for 1/2 damage might do a bit to improve the spell's utility, so I'll probably do that.


Extinguish: this utility spell could use a couple upgrades. First, it would make sense if it did more damage, or otherwise affected, fire elementals. Second, I don't see why it should be only nonmagical fires. Perhaps it could use the dispel magic rules on fire magic?

Extinguish is meant as a weak firefighting spell that a firefighter in a high-magic society might actually know and use. They don't want to kill the people they're rescuing, but standing in the area is still somewhat dangerous. At high levels, an adventurer might find it useful against mobs or armies (it affects a huge area when upcast), but it's mostly a flavorful NPC spell.


Greater/Lesser Vehicular Manslaughter: there is nothing wrong with this spell. This is gold.

I look forward to my players using them. :smallsmile:


Heighten Awareness: this spell is strictly worse than enhance ability, which gives Advantage to all Wisdom checks -- or any other stat -- for longer time, on other people, with no downsides. You could safely remove the penalty, and also still drop the spell to 1st level.

You are totally correct. I've reduced the spell to level 1, dropped the concentration requirement, and reduced the penalty significantly.


Illusory Hair: this fits well with your intended campaign. Can I just say, I hope someone uses this spell in combat just to make one of their enemies look ridiculous.

It has already happened. :smallbiggrin:


Locate Ore: obviously, this has extremely limited use for a standard D&D character. Obviously, that's not the point. That said, I think a higher level cast would improve the range.

Fair enough. I'll add an upcast option.


Locate Water: I'll be honest, I just assumed this spell already existed. Its value is obvious.

Yeah, it's not as useful to adventurers as Create or Destroy Water, but it's a great NPC utility.


Magewield: This has Arcane Trickster all over it. Out of curiosity, why not two-handed weapons? Why not a staff?

I've already updated the wording. The original concept changed a bit (it was a originally a telekinetic copy of one of your hands that could fly around holding a single light weapon), and the new way is much simpler in concept and phrasing.


Ovation: HAHAHAHAHA I would so cast this after every single boss battle HAHAHAHAHA this is awesome!

My Bard's player would like you.


Preserve Food: Okay, I like the idea you're going for, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure1. Purify food and drink is a pound of cure. There's no reason for this spell to be so much higher level. In fact, this screams "cantrip" to me. I mean, there are a lot of real-life food items that the amount of salt the spell requires, and 10 minutes, will preserve without magic.

The concept of this spell: Most people eat preserved travel rations made of dried breads, fruits, nuts and meat. For the same cost, you can dine on fancy cakes, fine meats, and the most delicate of cheeses despite explosions, rainstorms and swamps. It's a ritual so it doesn't really take up adventuring resources, but it's a 2nd level spell to make the effect a bit rarer among spellcasting NPCs.


Rain Cloud: it's a weaker control weather, so I get that. In fact, if it were my spell, I'd have the description "as control weather, except you can only change the precipitation and only up by one". Four hours to cast a rain cloud feels a tad slow, too.

I don't disagree. It's meant as the sort of spell that a community would hire a spellcaster to perform during a drought, not any sort of quick combat spell. Would you reduce casting time to 10 minutes while keeping the spell level the same? I've been tempted to drop it to 4th level, but keep the casting time at 4 hours. As far as spell effect go, it's not exactly combat-relevant in most cases, so I've had a hard time figuring out exactly how high the spell level should be.


Don't make your PCs immortal.

Welp, that ship sailed.


Rejuvenate: This comes from experience: do not make a renewable source of player youth. Ever. Old age is the DM's ultimate weapon (literally) and necessary for more campaigns/storylines than you think. Perhaps a version that temporarily grants youth? Or a spell that removes magical aging? As it exists, however, this spell is a time bomb2. Don't make your PCs immortal.

I dunno. Reincarnate exists, and it's a 5th level spell that only costs 1000gp for another full lifetime. It's balanced by being exclusive to Druids (and Bards), and the species-swapping thing.

Clone. 8th level, and costs 3000 gp to give somebody another full lifetime in (a clone of) their own body.

There's a Chaos Sorcerer/Monk combo that grants infinite youth for free, iirc.

Rejuvenate might be better as an 8th or 9th level spell, but the way I see it, rich people in a high-magic society already have access to infinite life. The primary benefit of Rejuvenate is that it's simple and you keep your existing species+body. It's higher level and ridiculously more expensive compared to Reincarnate (5000gp for 1 year of life, compared to 1000gp for another 60 years of life).

Reading through the other options for eternal life in 5e makes me think that I could buff Rejuvenate a fair amount (probably decrease the cost), and not break anything.


Repel Vermin: add wording that makes the spell block monster vermin swarms. It's implied, but make it blatant.

Okay. Yeah. Good call.


Scintilating Bolt: As fun as "choice of saving throw" sounds, I can't think of a way that Charisma will block radiant damage. Dex, Con, and Wis no problem.

This is an experimental spell. I'm still thinking hard about this one. Perhaps limiting the saving throw options would do it, or changing the damage type to something more universal (or adjusting it based on the ability you pick for the save). Argh. I want this spell to be phrased simply!


Scry Self: this spell is cast by pausing the game, opening the Settings menu, and selecting "Third Person View".

Hah! This game doesn't pause when you're in the menu. Watch out!


Smoke Eyes: the only issue I have is the spell's name, since it clearly not just smoke. It's a handy hard counter to have around.

That's an artifact of the original firefighting concept of the spell. Maybe it could be changed to Piercing Sight


Stone Sense: okay, there's a trap here you might not have considered. As written, PCs might make the argument that this spell automaps the dungeon they're in with a radius of 60 feet. By virtue of finding stones, they know where stones aren't. And I'm not sure the easy answer ("natural, unworked stones") will help, because then the spell is kind of weak. I'm not sure what I would do to salvage this spell.

Yes, if you're in a dungeon made of stone, this spell would map it out to a 60' radius. I think I'll reduce the radius, but make that effect more clear.


Style: Cantrip. Also, dye job?

It's not a cantrip because many classes are very limited in the number of cantrips they can learn. 1st level spells are less of an investment for a PC.

Good call on recoloring hair! I'll add it! Edit: Nevermind, I already had recolor in the list of what the spell can do.


Suppress Enchantment: my concern with the spell is, magic weapons and armor in a lot of games (including mine) are ridiculously hard to damage. A fourth level spell, enough to suppress a sword +1, is on the borderline of how strong the spell would need to be to bypass that. Also, there needs to be a saving throw for an item held by an unwilling creature.

I agree with the saving throw thing. Maybe Dexterity (moving the object out of the way)?

Could you rephrase your other suggestion? I don't really understand what you're trying to say.


Throw Person: This feels like a weaker version of thunderwave. I know, it isn't, but 3d6 and a push to a single target feels weak compared to thunderwave. A higher range, maybe?

At higher levels, Throw Person does a lot of repositioning, and there's potential for combos (you throw someone at the far wall of a canyon, then they fall into the canyon for extra damage), or knocking a melee character out of range for an entire turn. I could see buffing the spell slightly, but I don't want to make an overpowered spell.


Track Object: so, it's locate object, but cast in advance. Okay, sounds useful. How about a higher level cast increasing the maximum range?

Will do.


Variable Dart: this spell feels balanced to me. But I would like it better if higher levels added more darts instead of more damage. Perhaps the caster could fling multiple damage types to see what a monster resists?

That's a good idea!


Waverider: at 4th level, swim speed alone feels lackluster. Add water breathing and I'm good.

I disagree.

Swim Speed is quite important for underwater combat and exploration and traversing dangerous river currents. It's not crucial for all campaigns, but it's really, really nice to have in some circumstances.

Water Breathing is a ritual. If you have advance notice before go into the water, Water Breathing doesn't take up any resources to cast, so it's basically free anyway.


Wayfarer's Step: I know you're going for utility here, but this feels too strong. If memory serves, +2mph is about double their movement, which expeditous retreat effectively does, at the same level, but self only and 10 minutes. I'd like the spell better if it was higher level (4th, 3rd perhaps) and inherently hit multiple targets.

Wayfarer's Step only modifies the target's overland travel speed, not their combat speed. It let's you travel farther over the course of a day of walking, but it doesn't make you run any faster during a battle.


Windborne Voices: I love spells or effects that makes table talk canon. Basically, this is why:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1104.html

I've even run a campaign where the PCs were permanently telepathically linked. So I like this spell a lot. Yeah, I know, it's not exactly the same thing, but I still like it.

That's exactly why I made that spell. The players are at the table talking to each other even though their characters are on different sides of the city. Sure, I'll let you do that, but you have to spend some resources to make it work.


There's good spells and good potential in this list, Keep it up! I'd like to hear how PCs use them.

Thanks a bunch! I'm going to start making a lot of your suggested changes tomorrow. Your thoughts were super valuable!

Breccia
2019-07-23, 09:47 AM
Could you rephrase your other suggestion?

Sure. I don't think a 4th level spell should break a sword +1. Once the sword is suppressed, it most likely loses its magic resilience, and can be broken like any nonmagical sword. PCs will have limited use for this, of course, because standard operating policy is "kill the monsters and take their stuff, then ale". But there's no reason the villain couldn't just wreck the PCs day with this.

Fighter: You have nowhere to run, fiend! With my enchanted sword, camiseta vermelha, I shall see you --
Villain Spellcaster: Just a sec. Boop!
Fighter: ...what did that do?
Villain Spellcaster: I just suppressed your magic sword. It's basically just a chunk of steel now.
Fighter: That's mildly inconvenient! I'll have to take that +1 off my hit and damage rolls. But still, my skills and might are enough to --
Villain Spellcaster: Scorching ray!
Camiseta vermelha: (melts)
Fighter: What??? I'm only level 7! That's the best weapon the party had! It could be two or three more dungeons before I get that replaced!
Villain Spellcaster: Yeah, the item damage rules in the DMG actually suggest a nonmagical sword has, what, ten hits points, tops. That's first level spell territory. Hey, did you remember to put a backup weapon on your character sheet? 'cause, otherwise, this encounter's going to be pretty sad for you. You're going to be out-DPSed by the party's bard.
Bard: (casts standing ovation)
Fighter: Fine. I'll just take this greatclub from one of your now dead ogre guards. Can't remove the enchantment from that, can you?
Villain Spellcaster: Nope, you totally got me there. HEY FRITZ PULL THE BLACK LEVER!
Black Pudding: Bloop!
Fighter: So what do I care? This greatclub means as much to me as the 3.5 rules about damage resistance. I'll just beat it to --
Villain Spellcaster: Hey, do you see that part in the MM where the black pudding's attacks permanently scar nonmagical armor? Five hits and you're wearing whatever clothing set you wrote down on your character sheet. You did write one down, didn't you?
Fighter: Uh...
Black Pudding: I'm so glad I'm blind.
Fighter: But that doesn't matter! I'm wearing enchanted plate ma--
Villain Spellcaster: Boop!
Fighter: OH COME ON!
Villain Spellcaster: So, based on a nonmagical greatclub and the black pudding's infamous splitting ability, I'd wager there's a greater than 50% chance you leave here with plate mail -2. Or, I could be a right bastard and cast haste the second they split, and leave you with nothing but what the gods granted you, and a worse AC than the bard.
Bard: (casts standing ovation)
Villain: Oh, and black puddings are CR 4, and you're 7th level, so odds are, I have two of those. But, if you want to roll for initiative, I'm totally down with that. All you have to do to risk your last remaining core item and by proxy usefulness to the campaign is take a swing at the pudding.
Fighter: I don't need this. I'm heading back to the tavern to pick up some sidequests. Maybe one of them awards WHY DO I HAVE A NEON BLUE BEEHIVE?
Villain Spellcaster: Hey, that one wasn't me.
Bard: (casts standing ovation)

Look, the short version is, magic items are meant to be special and depending on the campaign rare. But nonmagical items can be damaged in far more ways than you probably think at first. And spellcasters, especially boss-level spellcasters, tend to be resourceful, intelligent, and most importantly cruel. Leaving aside the combat advantage of neutering one or two of the incoming PCs, even if he loses, the idea of permanently damaging their ability...it's just something too many of them would do. And even if you're not that type of DM, spells (and everything else) need to be balanced on their potential. It's the same reason you can't make a 1st level spell that does 8d10 damage with no saving throw, but only works on Thursdays. At some point, it's going to be Thursday.

That was a ton of words to get to my point: the spell should not remove the magic item's inherent resistance to damage. Suppress the effects? Awesome. Permanently screw a PC? Way less cool.

P.S. If you want a funnier and safer version to do in your campaign, have some chump 3rd level spellcaster use this spell on the first PC who goes for a potion of healing. It'll have the same "gotcha!" moment and it'll be hilarious.

Tiadoppler
2019-07-23, 11:21 AM
Adjusted Spells:

Throw Person has been renamed 'Launch', and buffed until it makes me giggle.
Ovation now makes it difficult to hear in the area
Acquire Object has been merged with Transport Item
Cold Feet has a different effect when upcast
Disperse Moisture has been slightly rephrased
Excruciating Disruption has been buffed to make its special ability more likely to succeed
Extinguish can now put out lower level magical fires
Heighten Awareness has been buffed
Locate Ore now has an upcast option for greater range
Locate Water now has an upcast option for greater range
Smoke Eyes has been renamed 'Piercing Sight'
Rain Cloud has been reduced in level
Rejuvenate has been increased in level, but decreased in price
Repel Vermin has been slightly rephrased
Scintillating Bolt now has limited options for saving throw ability
Stonesense has been reduced in range, but has an upcast option
Track Object has been reduced in range, but has an upcast option
Variable Dart now fires multiple projectiles, with potentially different damage types



snip

Ah, got it. Thanks for the explanation (and the story). Breaking magical items isn't what I meant for the spell to do. The Fighter had the right idea (the sword loses the +1 for the duration of the spell, nothing else). A better way to phrase it might be:

"If the target is a magical item of ____ rarity, it temporarily loses all magical abilities and bonuses. The target still counts as magical and retains its durability."


Things To Do:

Rephrase Breach and Suppress Enchantment
Rethink Barrage, Excruciating Disruption, Launch, Rain Cloud, and Scintillating Bolt
Write new spells

Breccia
2019-07-24, 08:05 AM
Something you've said has been bugging me for a while. It's this, and variations of this:


it's a 2nd level spell to make the effect a bit rarer among spellcasting NPCs.!

A spell's level should be based on its power and vice versa. And that's it. There shouldn't be such a thing as a "weak 3rd level spell". Unpopular yes, weak no. Who's casting it is irrelevant. The intended purpose is irrelevant.

Rarity can be controlled by other means -- the spell can be new and not well known yet, or prized and kept a closely-guarded secret ("We're the only bakery in town that has the preserve food spell. Therefore we get a huge market share of travelers. If we sell that spell, we're ruined"), or there's a social taboo (such as making preserve food necromancy, which think about it, makes a lot of sense).

PC/NPC casters don't change that. You can't get, hypothetical example, a special driver's license at age 12 because you will only back the car from the driveway onto the curb, but nothing else. At 12, you don't get a license. You don't get a special gun permit because you've decided your Halloween costume of Agent Smith requires a real 0.50 Desert Eagle which you super duper pinky swear you'll never load or fire. Other way around: someone who graduates with a BS, MS or PhD in Mechanical Engineering can do more than make one specific item. Do they have a focus on which they wrote their thesis? Most assuredly. Can they still design and build a working winch? Again, most assuredly.

Now, maybe you and I disagree on what spell should be which level. That's valid. I've had some hilarious screwups with custom spells over my campaigns. But please, don't intentionally make weak spells higher level, because you want them to be weak spells. Players are smart (most of them, anyhow), if they have no reason to use the spell they won't use the spell, regardless of its level. But what you're doing is akin to putting studded leather into the Heavy Armor category and giving it Stealth Disadvantage because you moved it.

Tiadoppler
2019-07-24, 11:44 AM
New Spells:

Blinding Flash
Kinetic Strike



A spell's level should be based on its power and vice versa. And that's it. There shouldn't be such a thing as a "weak 3rd level spell". Unpopular yes, weak no. Who's casting it is irrelevant. The intended purpose is irrelevant.


Defining power is very difficult for non-combat spells. Easily storing and preserving food (especially well-balanced meals) has tremendous implications for logistics. While spells like Goodberry, Purify Food and Drink, or Create Food and Water require a spellcaster to be available to support an expedition, Preserve Food does not. Preserve Food creates a permanent (well, it lasts 10 years) item. You can get a spellcaster to preserve all the food you want and take it with you.

The difference between modern armies (preserved food that can be shipped around the world and still stays good edible for months or years) and many historical armies (must live off the land, strictly limited in how long they can be deployed) is huge. My opinion is that that is too powerful for a 1st level spell, from a purely logistical standpoint, but I could be wrong.

Edit: Thinking about it, I do agree that there's something lackluster about the Preserve Food spell as-written. It's too similar in effect to the basic Rations item. I'm tossing around two ideas:

Reduce the level to 1, but increase the cost to 1 gp. Now it's more of a luxury spell: everybody else eats Rations, but you eat fancy cuisine.
or
Remove the component cost + ritual tag. Make it target 10lbs of food. Now it's more of an adventurer spell.
Edit 2: Modifications are complete. It's now a 2nd level Necromancy spell that targets up to 20lbs of food, but has no monetary cost.



Rarity can be controlled by other means -- the spell can be new and not well known yet, or prized and kept a closely-guarded secret ("We're the only bakery in town that has the preserve food spell. Therefore we get a huge market share of travelers. If we sell that spell, we're ruined"), or there's a social taboo (such as making preserve food necromancy, which think about it, makes a lot of sense).


Making spells rare is pretty difficult unless you design an entire system for limiting spell access, and probably write a new system for how NPC spellcasters work too. As-is, any known-spell caster that levels up can choose to learn any spell on their entire list. Any prepared-spell caster can swap their spells out every day. Wizards can learn new spells by finding books and scrolls, but they also get two new spells per level. NPC spellcasters don't have class levels, of course, but do NPC clerics still get spells from their deity? Do they get a smaller list than the PC spell list?

Edit 3: I am currently running a campaign that has limitations to spell access, but it requires pretty heavy homebrew and quite a few houserules to make it work.

Although I do really like the idea of making Preserve Food a Necromancy spell!!

Vogie
2019-07-25, 09:38 AM
These are super fun

Barrage makes sense, but not next to variable dart. I don't see why you'd need both.

Breach feels like it's going to 100% explode in your face. I'd make it an action to draw the rune, and then a second action to detonate it as long as you are within a certain range. That also allows it to act as a sort of remotely-triggered mine.

Illusory Hair should be a ritual too, allowing you to create hair for yourself without spending a spell slot, but having to spend a spell slot if you're giving the town guard the "I need to speak to your manager" cut.

Heighten Awareness doesn't make sense as a Warlock spell, unless there's homebrew afoot. It doesn't scale, and doesn't last very long. If they did have it, it'd be picked up via an at-will invocation.

I'd open up the directions of Launch to go in any direction instead of just "straight line away from you". I would certainly use this to lie prone, have a party member step over me, and send them soaring upwards toward that ledge or over a wall. Since it already provokes falling damage, may as well let it be used for such things. You could even add wording to target the ground and launch yourself.

Piercing Sight - I was literally just reading through a copy of the Pathfinder 2 Playtest rules last night, and noticed a Druid feat to see through fog and smoke, and said "That's a great idea - 5e should have that!". I'd want Druids to also see through magical smoke or fog - similar to how Warlocks and Shadow Sorcerers can have the Darkness/Sight combo for them.

Rainbow Bridge is cool, but it's odd that it's locked at 80 ft long and 1 hour for a scaling spell. Although, to be honest, I thought it was a Thor reference, so I was already a little disappointed.

Rejuvenate is odd for an 8th level spell. It's clearly powerful, but with an 8 hour cast time, it seems... off. Compare to Awaken, which also has an 8 hour cast time, but is only a 5th level spell.

Stonesense... I don't see why anyone would take this. Or why it would be created? What am I missing here?

Breccia
2019-07-25, 09:44 AM
I don't see why anyone would take this. Or why it would be created? What am I missing here?

Don't forget, these are intended to be NPC spells more than PC spells. I would imagine a farmer, mason, or construction team would be very interested in knowing where the stones are before they start digging. Also, depending on how generous the DM is, a jeweler might want it lying around because glass isn't a stone, making it easy to detect forgeries.

It's awfully niche for a PC to prep for a standard adventure, I'll grant you that. Fortunately that's not really a concern in context.

Tiadoppler
2019-07-25, 11:46 AM
These are super fun

Thanks! I'm still working on more spells + rewriting the ones that need work.


Barrage makes sense, but not next to variable dart. I don't see why you'd need both.

They're both pretty situational. Barrage deals very little damage, Variable Dart deals slightly more. If you're fighting a spellcaster who spams Shield, Barrage is useless. If you're fighting some giant monster with massive AC, Barrage will reliably do some damage. Variable Dart is great for probing for resistances and vulnerabilities, and exploiting vulnerabilities if they have them.

Barrage, Kinetic Strike, Variable Dart, and Scintillating Bolt are all attack cantrips that, in my opinion, fill empty niches in the list of attack cantrips. Barrage's reliability and great damage type is balanced by its very low damage and hard counter (Shield). Variable Dart's adaptability is balanced by its low damage and commonly resisted damage types. Scintillating Bolt's versatility is balanced by its low damage. Kinetic Strike's high damage is balanced by its melee range and commonly resisted damage types.

Edit: Barrage is also a good-great choice for Magic Initiates or other casters who don't have a strong casting stat but need a ranged attack.


Breach feels like it's going to 100% explode in your face. I'd make it an action to draw the rune, and then a second action to detonate it as long as you are within a certain range. That also allows it to act as a sort of remotely-triggered mine.

That's an awesome idea. I've been trying to figure out how to phrase Breach more plainly, and that might just do it!


Illusory Hair should be a ritual too, allowing you to create hair for yourself without spending a spell slot, but having to spend a spell slot if you're giving the town guard the "I need to speak to your manager" cut.

Yes, it should be. I thought it was. Okay, I'll fix that.


Heighten Awareness doesn't make sense as a Warlock spell, unless there's homebrew afoot. It doesn't scale, and doesn't last very long. If they did have it, it'd be picked up via an at-will invocation.

Good point. Let me think through a scaling effect for Heighten Awareness.


I'd open up the directions of Launch to go in any direction instead of just "straight line away from you". I would certainly use this to lie prone, have a party member step over me, and send them soaring upwards toward that ledge or over a wall. Since it already provokes falling damage, may as well let it be used for such things. You could even add wording to target the ground and launch yourself.

Yes, I agree that Launch should be able to be used for that sort of thing, but I'm reluctant to make those effects explicitly allowed. I think that that sort of effect (how physics and relative location of creatures works in a game) should probably be a DM ruling handled on a case-by-case basis. I'll see if I can clarify the wording a bit.


Rainbow Bridge is cool, but it's odd that it's locked at 80 ft long and 1 hour for a scaling spell. Although, to be honest, I thought it was a Thor reference, so I was already a little disappointed.

I improved it a bit (can be made wider and longer). The name (and appearance) is a reference to Thor, but the spell effect was inspired more of LotR's Bridge of Khazad-Dum (sp?).


Rejuvenate is odd for an 8th level spell. It's clearly powerful, but with an 8 hour cast time, it seems... off. Compare to Awaken, which also has an 8 hour cast time, but is only a 5th level spell.

Agreed. Reduced casting time to 1 hour, similar to Clone.


Stonesense... I don't see why anyone would take this. Or why it would be created? What am I missing here?

Like Breccia said, it's primarily an NPC utility spell, but adventurers can use it to check for hidden passages in a castle or dungeon, or examine the rough shapes of room on the far side of a stone wall.


depending on how generous the DM is, a jeweler might want it lying around because glass isn't a stone, making it easy to detect forgeries.

I've clarified the language slightly: it was pretty badly worded originally. Stonesense is only meant to detect stones that are bigger than 1 foot on a side, specifically so that you can't detect things like gems/sand/dust.

Tiadoppler
2019-07-26, 01:33 PM
New Spells:

Friendship Beam - 9th level plot device
Secret Glade - 3rd level ritual hidden campsite/base
Modified Spells:

General grammar improvements
Breach - gains upcast options

Tiadoppler
2019-07-28, 10:37 PM
New Spells:

Faunaform - 9th level minor shapechange ability, based on Warcraft III's Medivh, and Harry Potter's Animagus spell
Healing Pool - 8th level potentially permanent Water of Life type effect

Modified Spells:

Barrage - each spark must target a different creature, but the number of sparks is increase by 1
Some general typo elimination

In Progress/Planning stages:

Join - a cantrip that lets you stick things together, creatively
Gravitational Bouyancy - an expensive higher level spell (4th - 6th?) that allows the creation of permanent floating things. Can be combined with the Vehicular Motivation spells for flying brooms/carpets/larger vehicles(at higher levels).
Mold Life (possibly multiple spells) - 7th+ level spell(s) that allows you to modify creatures and create new species.
Prepare Food - cantrip or 1st level (ritual) that allows you to cook food without a fire.
Delver's Delight - 7th-8th level spell that makes you immune to thunder damage and the effects of pressure, but renders you deaf.
Vigil - something something stay up all night without penalty or take a long rest without sleeping, but with some other penalty
Recursive Incarnation - automatic reincarnation on death, reborn as a child (without class levels) after (some amount of time, probably greater than 9 months). Child has the soul and personality of the original person, but only fully recalls their memories after full maturity.
Permanency - turn spell effects with durations of permanent and permanent until dispelled into magical items to protect them from Dispel Magic. Expensive and high level.

Bjarkmundur
2019-07-29, 03:37 PM
Still VERY subscribed to this thread ^^

What's your opinion on reaction spells? I'd love to see what your creativity does with fun interactions like that :)

Tiadoppler
2019-07-29, 03:56 PM
New Spells:

Delver's Delight
Join
Prepare Food


Still VERY subscribed to this thread ^^

What's your opinion on reaction spells? I'd love to see what your creativity does with fun interactions like that :)

Glad to hear it!

I'd like to branch out into more bonus action and reaction spells eventually, but I'm still (a) working through my backlog of spell concepts I want to create, and (b) lurking on optimization forums to improve my understanding of 5e's action economy. I still have somewhere around 15-20 spells on the back burner that I plan to write+post over the next week or so.

Tiadoppler
2019-07-31, 12:24 PM
New Spells:

Permanency - because I worked hard on that secret glade, and I don't want anybody dispelling it
Recursive Incarnation - have you ever watched Avatar: The Last Airbender? Yeah, it's kinda like that.
Vigil - who needs sleep, anyway?

Tiadoppler
2019-08-09, 01:50 PM
New Spells:

Don - cast before Tenser's Transformation for extra fun
Hindsight - less useful than Foresight
Buoyancy (Greater and Lesser) - build your own magic carpets, flying broomsticks and airships! I hope you have lots of cash on hand.

Modified Spells:

Saving throw functionality adjusted on Cold Feet for ease of use.
Kinetic Strike modified to give "Rend" a niche. Kinetic Strike no longer does adjustable damage, but it now counts as magical damage.

To-Do List:

Rend - a short-range Slashing damage cantrip that can also be used to cut objects. Probably 1d8 Slashing damage, range 15' (counts as melee?), multiple targets.
Temporal Stutter - lower a target's initiative. 7th- or 8th-level spell
Mold Life - genetic/species trait modifications
Glow - permanent 10' radius dim light on an object
Reinforce - (potentially) permanent durability increase on an object

Bjarkmundur
2019-08-29, 08:35 PM
Hey man, you got any poison cloud spells in the works I could use? Or just some low-level poison-love in general? ^^

Tiadoppler
2019-08-30, 11:17 PM
Here you go!

New Spells:

Caustic Mists (2nd-level poison wall)
Deep Freeze (EXPERIMENTAL cantrip that also allows upcasting)
Toxin Burst (1st-level poison aoe)
Venomous Strike (Weapon poison cantrip, similar in concept to green-flame blade)
Windblade (anime stuff. Use your sword to make magic ranged attacks)

Modified Spells:

I finally have Don working fairly well. It's messy and I hate it, but it works.

Bjarkmundur
2019-08-31, 03:55 PM
:O What a delivery! Toxin Burst is exactly what I was looking for!

I like don, don't see why you hate it ^^

Deep freeze is very interesting, do you think the 1d6/spell level upcasting could be use on other cantrips?

I understand it's not a good idea, since it would discourage people from picking utility cantrips, and it suddenly makes the number of cantrips you know a much more powerful feature. I still like the idea :D

Tiadoppler
2019-08-31, 05:16 PM
:O What a delivery! Toxin Burst is exactly what I was looking for!

I like don, don't see why you hate it ^^

Glad to hear it!

I dislike Don's phrasing, because having a special condition for a specific separate spell is inelegant. Tenser's Transformation just has so many limitations that it's hard to write around them while staying within the rules.


Deep freeze is very interesting, do you think the 1d6/spell level upcasting could be use on other cantrips?

I understand it's not a good idea, since it would discourage people from picking utility cantrips, and it suddenly makes the number of cantrips you know a much more powerful feature. I still like the idea :D

I don't think it's a good idea to apply upcasting to most cantrips, but it's probably okay to have a few custom ones that have upcasting options. Here are the issues and limitations I'm trying to keep in mind:


Upcastable cantrips should not be more efficient than actual spells. They should scale relatively poorly, and never overshadow your higher level attack spells at any level. Their primary purpose is to fill gaps in your spell/damage type coverage (especially in tier 3 and tier 4 play, when you might have retrained away your level 1-2 attack spells).

Upcastable cantrips should not overshadow class abilities like a Paladin's smite. Their damage dice should be limited to 1d6, and you must decide whether to expend a spell slot before you know whether the cantrip hits or not.

Upcastable cantrips should not be based on existing high-damage cantrips. Eldritch Blast/Firebolt/Toll the Dead/etc. are already powerful cantrips that don't need a buff to power/versatility. Upcastable cantrips exist to fill a niche, not give a straight-up power boost.