favorite obscure spells?

[Venger]

what are peoples' favorite obscure spells? either due to an esoteric source, a weirdly specific purpose, or something else. useful, useless, or just plain strange, I'm interested in plumbing the depths and finding all those weirdo spells I've somehow managed not to have heard of yet.

[Taveena]

Maw of Chaos isn't THAT obscure, but it's just. My favorite goddamn spell and it's not mentioned much. It's a blast that's actually worth using, from a school boosted by one of my favorite classes (Abjurant Champion), and it doubles as BFC and debuffs. <3

[Venger]

Maw of Chaos isn't THAT obscure, but it's just. My favorite goddamn spell and it's not mentioned much. It's a blast that's actually worth using, from a school boosted by one of my favorite classes (Abjurant Champion), and it doubles as BFC and debuffs. <3

I *love* maw of chaos. noteworthy for being uncapped >:]

[evangaline]

Prestidigitation, the one spell who I fail to pronounce or spell properly every time it is mentioned. Someone called it a ´least wish´ wich I wholeheartedly agree with.

A widened spike growth is also quite high up there for it´s pure awesomness. Everything moves at half speed and takes d4 dmng when it moves. Our ranger loves me for it every time I cast it.

[Venger]

related: drifts of the shalm is a fun one for low lvl BFC for the same reasons. plus, like a lot of great obscure spells, it has strange word salad for a name.

[Fax Celestis]

Improvisation is pretty frequently overlooked because people don't realize that in the update between CAdv and SpC, it moved from Bard 5 to Bard 1. I love it so much. I tend to put it on wands for even my noncasty characters just because it's so versatile.

[Curmudgeon]

I like Ray of Resurgence (Lost Empires of Faerûn) to remove fatigue (or shift exhaustion down to fatigue) as a level 1 Cleric spell. It'll also deal with Strength damage and penalties in the same casting. Getting rid of fatigue with 15 gp worth of Use Magic Device wand use lets a low-level Rogue also take on a night job for extra income (while the party spellcasters are doing their rest/preparation thing) and still accommodate adventuring with the group.

[Venger]

Improvisation is pretty frequently overlooked because people don't realize that in the update between CAdv and SpC, it moved from Bard 5 to Bard 1. I love it so much. I tend to put it on wands for even my noncasty characters just because it's so versatile.

wow, never actually looked at that one before! I think I'd always conflated it with a different bard spel (the one that lets you gift half your ranks in perform to a willing target)

ray of resurgence is neat too, I hadn't thought of using it that way.

[gorfnab]

Regal Procession (SC) - so many uses besides party transport. For battlefield control it functions as Wall of Horse.

[EisenKreutzer]

This is Pathfinder, but I'm a huge fan of Anthropomorphic Animal. It's not terribly useful, but it's very cool.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Friendly Fire (EoE) is ridiculously powerful, even more hilarious if you persist it. It's not the most obscure, but it's sometimes overlooked since it's in a villain-centric book. There's no [Evil] tag on the spell, though...

If you've pumped your CL for whatever reason, Skin of the Steel Dragon (CoV) can be priceless against a regular caster.

Speaking of CL pumping, Suffer the Flesh (MoE) gets ridiculous when persisted. +5 CL for a rod of bodily restoration and some rubies? Yes, please.

Combine Aerial Alacrity (RotW) with the non-obscure Overland Flight (or some other magical flight source) to get good+ maneuverability flight as a swift action.

[KillianHawkeye]

One spell that I really like is bands of steel from Complete Arcane. It's a 3rd level conjuration spell that forces a Reflex save at Medium range to hold a single target immobile and completely helpless (or merely entangled if they make the save) for a round per level. It's a bit of a niche spell because it doesn't work at all against anything larger than Medium-size, but it works great against humanoid enemies. Particularly spellcasters, as they're not likely to have a high Reflex and the only ways to escape the bands are with a Strength check or Escape Artist, two things mages usually aren't good at. It's also nice for variety because not a lot of spells offer a Reflex save to avoid being completely shut down, and when I play a wizard I like to have spells that target all of the saves to cover my bases.

My most memorable use of the spell was in a battle against an enemy wizard with a bit of melee support who was the leader of some cultists we had been tussling with. He spent most of the battle casting spells at us from behind the safety of his globe of invulnerability, using his melee troops to stop our warriors from getting too close. As the party wizard, I considered it my responsibility to take this guy down. Especially because the DM was notorious for having guys flee from battle and we didn't have a great track record for stopping them. So I used a few low-level spells for support until we finally forced this spellcaster to leave the protected area, and BAM! I nailed him on his soft, unprotected Reflex save and took him out of the battle long enough for my meat shields to get there and issue the coup-de-grace.



Another spell that I really like the idea of but have never gotten the chance to use is disobedience from Complete Scoundrel. It protects a person from being mind-controlled, but fools the enemy into thinking their control was successful. It also lets the person hear whatever mental commands the enemy tries to give them, so basically they can pretend to actually be controlled until the opportune moment arrives for them to strike and really ruin the bad guy's day.

[Fax Celestis]

Armor lock (CompScn) is Fort neg, SR yes, and can only target armored opponents, but it reduces all speeds to 10' on a failed save and the target loses Dex to AC. Bard/Hex/Sor/Wiz 1.

Rot of ages (DrMag) is Fort partial, SR no. Targeted creature is sickened and treats all other creatures as having concealment for 2 rounds. Passing the save negates the sickened condition but not the concealment. Totally shuts down any precision damage character. And if you hit them with it again, their sickened condition upgrades to nausea. Drd/Sor/Wiz 1. Quickened rot of ages + rot of ages (or arcane spellsurge: rot of ages + rot of ages) is basically nauseated for two rounds and treats all other creatures as having concealment.

And then there's always wall of smoke + smoke stairs.

[Thanatosia]

Benevolent Transposition - insanely useful with a flying familiar or with summon monster I at early levels.

Stand - Swift action to get back on your feet for Gishes if your dm loves throwing trippers at ya.

Ray of Dizziness - ranged touch for a no-save ultra-suck effect that has virtually no removal methods, but limited by [mind-affecting] at higher levels.

Close Wounds - has saved countless party member lives in my games in early-mid levels, but doesn't scale up well later on.

Earth Reaver - AOE nuke that requires neither hit roll, nor save (for the damage at least), does good damage, and knocks things prone.... and it's transmutation so a great nuke outside the normal evocation/conjuration options.

[KillianHawkeye]

Oh yeah, if you want some obscure spells for the DM's side of the screen, Exemplars of Evil has a couple of cool ones.

Infallible servant lasts hours per level and causes the target to dissolve into a puddle of sludge if they're killed or they get captured by non-evil creatures. Not only does this completely foil speak with dead, but they can't even be brought back to life by anything short of wish or miracle.

There is also alibi, a mind-effecting spell that causes the target to totally remember seeing you at that place last night. It even says that their mind fills in the details to cover up any logical inconsistencies.

Friendly fire lets you redirect any ranged attack (even a ranged touch attack) to another target within 30 feet. It is castable as an immediate action (to deflect a single attack) or with a 1 round casting time (allowing it to function continuously for a round per level).

And then there's willing sacrifice, a swift action spell that deals 1d10 damage to a nearby willing, evil creature and gives you a bonus equal to the damage dealt that you can use on any attack roll, damage roll, saving throw, ability check, or skill check (you can divide it up however you like). Although honestly, it doesn't seem very good for a 3rd-level spell.

[Rebel7284]

Wings of Cover - Immediate action level 2 spell that can stop so many things.

Seconding Close Wounds and Friendly Fire.

I am a big fan of Channeled Divine Shield for DMM Clerics.

Blockade is a great use of a first level slot!

[jiriku]

I like spell fangs. In low-threat combats where you don't want to expend a lot of spells, it lets you drop mooks pretty reliably and lasts long enough that one casting can do you for the whole fight. While it's close range, the temporary hit points it grants let you take a more risky tack against low-threat enemies. It's also way cool since basically no one has ever heard of it.

I'm also partial to wall of chains, which is the lowest-level wall spell that actually creates a solid barrier. It's shapeable, too, so you can use it to entrap monsters, and it doesn't have the clause about automatically allowing a saving throw when used to entrap, like some of the higher-level wall spells do.

[Curmudgeon]

Wings of Cover ...

Is there anyone left who considers that an obscure spell?

[Dalebert]

"Obscure" is relative, and on this forum, there's probably not much that is but...

Hoard Gullet

Body of Air/Water/Earth (not impressed with fire, not for the level anyway)

Sunstroke (great cheap wand spell)

Quick Potion (Was great on my Ultimate Magus who could use any leftover slots on it at the end of the day to save for the next day)

Unseen Servant -- not at all obscure, but has obscure uses that many fail to take advantage of

Burrow

Summon Totem Creature -- Summon that lasts an hour. Great for a spy/scout who's pretty stealthy and can fly. Can also be cast with Shadow Conjuration if you don't have the spell or (Maybe?) if you don't meet the other requirements.

Cackling Skull -- Skulls are common and free unlike Magic Mouth components, and this is more fun.

Sculpt Simulacrum -- As if simulacrums weren't useful enough already

Ray of Clumsiness

[Rebel7284]

Is there anyone left who considers that an obscure spell?

I keep seeing sorcerer spell lists that don't have it. I consider it an auto-include. So yes. :)

[The Viscount]

Detect Fire is one of my favorites because it seems useless from the title, but as the text tells you detects any living creature other than (Cold) ones, so you can use it as crude detection as well as deathwatch of sorts.

Oath of Blood is an involved but ultimately cheaper alternative for temporary create undead. It costs only 40gp per HD of the target, instead of 50gp per HD of the undead to be made. As a result, you can target a 1HD commoner and get a 14HD mohrg, which you can then use to create zombies. When the mohrg dies from the geas ending you have a group of zombies for free. Or you can just use the spell for some mummy backup when things get tough. Either way works.

[SimonMoon6]

Obscuring Mist. :P

[Phelix-Mu]

Nurturing seeds, by far. In fact, all of the Athas.org spells are official, insofar as that word means anything, because WotC gave them the official license for Dark Sun stuff in 3e; previous discussion have substantiated that this makes them "official". Also noteworthy, if clearly 3.0 and in need of a bit of an update, swarm of anguish, I think it was. 9th druid, level hour/level swarm shape that deals a substantial amount of Con damage. Very flavorful mook control, and a set of somewhat sub-par immunities that druids might have more trouble coming by than wizards. Also, good if your DM was sensible and nerfed shapechange, lol.

[TheMooch]

Sakkratar's tripple strike (LEoF) I have this spell on every swiftblade build I make. Its super favorful and fun.

ferocity of sanguine rage (DM) is fun for when you want a raging caster gish.

edit: also streamers when you really want to annoy someone with AoO

[Ruethgar]

Not obscure in the least, but I love to use the lack of delineation of the state of water in Create Water for ice magi. I realize it heavily implies liquid form, but DMs thus far have pretty much applauded my creativity, though they unanimously instantly gimp the living hell out of it because 2gal/lvl of fog is a lot more than you get from the spell Fog and Create Ice Object just seems pointless in view of War Create Water. Thus far one DM split them into three spells and limited the fog to 5ft square/lvl, another made both the fog and ice 5ft/2 lvl and only able to make ice sheets similar to the Ice Slick or Grease spells. A third decided that I did the math so I get the goods, woot!

[Venger]

Regal Procession (SC) - so many uses besides party transport. For battlefield control it functions as Wall of Horse.

I prefer calling it a horse field.

[Know(Nothing)]

I don't know why it doesn't get more love, but Pronouncement of Fate from HoH is just downright mean. Look it up. It isn't even a save-or-suck, it's a save-and-you-will-still-suck.

[Yue Ryong]

If I am playing any sort of druid-based caster, I will be dropping Kelpstrand.

[A_S]

My absolute favorite: Fanfare (Song and Silence, p.90, never updated to a 3.5 version). Bard 6. Stuns for 1d4 rounds and deafens for twice that, no save, not mind-affecting. Also does 4d6 damage on a failed fort save, but who cares? No-save-just-lose AoE stunning.

Obligatory on any Sublime Chord in a game where it's allowed, in my opinion.

[Jsuelieta]

Not 'obscure' in the traditional sense as they're right there in the manual, but rarely used to be sure, and can really screw with the DM:

Make Whole: You lock a door behind you and bar it best you can. The enemy hacks (or punches) their way in! Repair the door and suddenly their arm or weapon is stuck. Can also screw with ritual circles or runes that have to be engraved on a surface.

Clean (or Prestidigitation, depending on system): The dark necromancer is using a huge ritual with blood painted in a spell? Clean that stuff up and watch him pee himself.