Spells: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
| Line 144: | Line 144: | ||
:::If a polymorph spell is cast on a creature that is smaller than Small or larger than Medium, first adjust its ability scores to one of these two sizes using the following table before applying the bonuses granted by the polymorph spell. (see '''Table: Ability Adjustments from Size Changes''') | :::If a polymorph spell is cast on a creature that is smaller than Small or larger than Medium, first adjust its ability scores to one of these two sizes using the following table before applying the bonuses granted by the polymorph spell. (see '''Table: Ability Adjustments from Size Changes''') | ||
====[Descriptor]==== | |||
::Appearing on the same line as the school and sub-school, when applicable, is a descriptor that further categorizes the spell in some way. Some spells have more than one descriptor. | |||
::The descriptors are acid, air, chaotic, cold, curse, darkness, death, disease, draconic, earth, electricity, emotion, evil, fear, fire, force, good, language-dependent, lawful, light, meditative, mind-affecting, pain, poison, shadow, sonic, and water. | |||
::Most of these descriptors have no game effect by themselves, but they govern how the spell interacts with other spells, with special abilities, with unusual creatures, with alignment, and so on. | |||
:::*'''Acid:''' Acid effects deal damage with chemical reactions rather than cold, electricity, heat, or vibration. This descriptor includes both actual acids and their chemical opposites, called bases or alkalines (such as ammonia and lye). | |||
:::*'''Air:''' Spells that create air, manipulate air, or conjure creatures from air-dominant planes or with the air subtype should have the air descriptor. | |||
:::*'''Chaotic:''' Spells that draw upon the power of true chaos or conjure creatures from chaos-aligned planes or with the chaotic subtype should have the chaos descriptor. | |||
:::*'''Cold:''' Cold effects deal damage by making the target colder, typically by blasting it with supernaturally cooled matter or energy. Cold effects also include those that create ice, sleet, or snow out of nothing. They can cause frostbite, numbness, coordination problems, slowed movement and reactions, stupor, and death. | |||
:::*'''Curse:''' Curses are often permanent effects, and usually cannot be dispelled, but can be removed with a [[Break Enchantment (Spell)]], [[Wish, Limited (Spell)]], [[Miracle (Spell)]], [[Remove Curse (Spell)]], or [[Wish (Spell)]]. | |||
:::::'''Additional Curse info:''' Many spells can place curses on unfortunate victims. Their effects are usually simple and can be ended with the right spell (but never [[Dispel Magic (Spell)]]). All curse spells have the curse descriptor. The most well-known is [[Bestow Curse (Spell)]], which allows the caster to invent her own effect in line with the listed options (no worse than a 50% chance of losing actions, a 4 penalty on checks, or a 6 penalty to an ability score). Effects in line with that power level include the following, though ultimately they are limited only by the casters imagination and the GMs discretion. | |||
:::::*When the victim is adjacent to the area of a damaging spell or [[spell-like]] effect (even one he created himself ), the area expands to include the victim. | |||
:::::*The victim cant heal naturally, and magical [[healing]] heals the victim by only half the usual amount (minimum 1 point). The victims [[fast healing]] and [[regeneration]], if any, are likewise halved. | |||
:::::*The victim is plagued by cacophonous sounds and strobing lights that only she can hear and see. She is distracted (5 penalty on [[Perception]] checks), cannot take 10 on skill checks, and must succeed at a [[concentration check]] (DC = 20 + spell level) to successfully cast spells. Any time the victim picks up or retrieves an object (including drawing a weapon or ammunition), there is a 50% chance that she immediately drops it. If she drops ammunition while attempting to make a ranged attack, that particular attack is lost. | |||
:::::'''Save DCs:''' The stat block for a curse lists the save DC. For curses that can be created by a spell, this usually represents the minimum DC. If a spell is used to create a curse in your game, calculate the DC using the casters ability score and the spell level as normal. | |||
:::*'''Darkness:''' Spells that create darkness or reduce the amount of light should have the darkness descriptor. Giving a spell the darkness descriptor indicates whether a spell like [[Daylight (Spell)]] is high enough level to counter or dispel it. | |||
:::*'''Death:''' Spells with the death descriptor directly attack a creatures life force to cause immediate death, or to draw on the power of a [[dead]] or [[dying]] creature. The [[Death Ward (Spell)]] protects against death effects, and some creature types are immune to death effects. | |||
:::*'''Disease:''' Disease effects give the target a [[disease]], which may be an invading organism such as a bacteria or virus, an abnormal internal condition (such as a cancer or mental disorder), or a recurring magical effect that acts like one of the former. Creatures with resistance or [[immunity]] to [[disease]] apply that resistance to their [[saving throw]] and the effects of [[disease]] spells. | |||
:::*'''Draconic:''' The draconic descriptor is for spells tied closely to [[Dragon Traits|dragons]] that those with draconic blood can cast them almost instinctually. Spells with the draconic descriptor were created by [[Dragon Traits|dragons]] in ages long past, and still resonate within the blood of true dragons to this day. | |||
::::Creatures of the [[Dragon Traits|dragons]] type with 5 or more racial hit dice can select a draconic spell as a spell known regardless of the class spell list its on. Each time such a creature gains an additional racial hit die, it can select a draconic spell in place of an existing spell known of the same or higher spell level. | |||
:::*'''Earth:''' Spells that manipulate earth or conjure creatures from earth-dominant planes or with the earth subtype should have the earth descriptor. | |||
:::*'''Electricity:''' Electricity effects involve the presence and flow of electrical charge, whether expressed in amperes or volts. Electricity deals damage to creatures by disrupting their biological systems. It deals damage to objects (as well as creatures) by heating the material it passes through, and thus technically many electricity spells could also be treated as fire spells, but for sake of game simplicity, it is better to just let electricity-based spells deal electricity damage. Electricity effects may [[stun]], paralyze, or even kill. | |||
:::*'''Emotion:''' Spells with this descriptor create emotions or manipulate the targets existing emotions. Most emotion spells are [[enchantment]]s, except for fear spells, which are usually [[necromancy]]. | |||
:::*'''Evil:''' Spells that draw upon evil powers or conjure creatures from evil-aligned planes or with the evil subtype should have the evil descriptor. | |||
::::Casting an evil spell is an evil act, but for most characters simply casting such a spell once isnt enough to change her [[alignment]]; this only occurs if the spell is used for a truly abhorrent act, or if the caster established a pattern of casting evil spells over a long period. A [[wizard]] who uses [[Animate Dead (Spell)]] to create guardians for defenseless people wont turn evil, but he will if he does it over and over again. The GM decides whether the characters [[alignment]] changes, but typically casting two evil spells is enough to turn a good creature nongood, and three or more evils spells move the caster from nongood to evil. The greater the amount of time between castings, the less likely [[alignment]] will change. Some spells require sacrificing a sentient creature, a major evil act that makes the caster evil in almost every circumstance. | |||
::::Those who are forbidden from casting spells with an opposed alignment might lose their divine abilities if they circumvent that restriction (via [[Use Magic Device]], for example), depending on how strict their deities are. | |||
::::Though this advice talks about evil spells, it also applies to spells with other [[alignment]] descriptors. | |||
:::*'''Fear:''' Spells with the fear descriptor create, enhance, or manipulate fear. Most fear spells are [[necromancy]] spells, though some are [[enchantment]] spells. | |||
:::::'''FAQ:'''Does the [[shaken]] condition from effects like [[Intimidate]] count as an effect with the fear descriptor for the purpose of blocking spells with emotion components? | |||
:::::Yes, they do. It should say fear effect, and for most descriptors, these wordings are sometimes used interchangeably. For instance, an ability that protects you from effects with the charm descriptor would generally protect you from a harpys song (which is a charm effect). | |||
:::*'''Fire:''' Fire effects make the target hotter by creating fire, directly heating the target with magic or friction. Lava, steam, and boiling water all deal fire damage. Fire effects can also cause confusion, dizziness, [[exhaustion]], [[fatigue]], nausea, unconsciousness, and death. Spells that manipulate fire or conjure creatures from fire-dominant planes or with the fire subtype should have the fire descriptor. | |||
:::*'''Force:''' Spells with the force descriptor create or manipulate magical force. Force spells affect [[incorporeal]] creatures normally (as if they were corporeal creatures). | |||
:::*'''Good:''' Spells that draw upon the power of true goodness or conjure creatures from good-aligned planes or with the good subtype should have the good descriptor. | |||
:::*'''Language-Dependent:''' A language-dependent spell uses intelligible language as a medium for communication. If the target cannot understand or hear what the caster of a language-dependent spell says, the spell has no effect, even if the target fails its saving throw. | |||
:::*'''Lawful:''' Spells that draw upon the power of true law or conjure creatures from law-aligned planes or with the lawful subtype should have the law descriptor. | |||
:::*'''Light:''' Spells that create significant amounts of light or attack darkness effects should have the light descriptor. Giving a spell the light descriptor indicates whether a spell like darkness is high enough level counter or dispel it. | |||
:::*'''Meditative:''' Meditative spells fall into an unusual category and share the meditative descriptor. Meditative spells are not cast like other spellsthey are cast during the period of the day when a spellcaster prepares her spells. A meditative spell must already be prepared at the time when you start your 1-hour spell preparation ritual, and at the end of that time, the meditative spell of your choosing is cast, leaving you with that one spell slot used for the remainder of the day. You can have only one meditative spell in effect on you at any one time. All meditative spells have a range of personal and a target of you, and they cant be brewed into potions or part of similar one-use items like elixirs. A meditative spell can be placed on a scroll or in a wand, but the act of casting the spell must always be incorporated into the users spell-preparation time; it also takes 1 hour for a character who succeeds at an appropriate Use Magic Device check to operate such an item. | |||
:::*'''Mind-Affecting:''' Mindless creatures (those with an [[Intelligence]] score of ) and [[Undead Traits|undead]] are immune to mind-affecting effects. | |||
:::*'''Pain:''' Pain effects cause unpleasant sensations without any permanent physical damage (though a sensitive target may suffer mental repercussions from lengthy exposure to pain). Creatures that are immune to effects that require a [[FORT]] save (such as [[Contruct Traits|constructs]] and [[Undead Traits|undead]]) are immune to pain effects. | |||
:::*'''Poison:''' Poison effects use poison, venom, drugs, or similar toxic substances to disrupt and damage living creatures through chemical reactions. Technically, acids and poisons are both chemical reactions, but for the purpose of this game, they are categorized as different effects, with acids dealing hit point damage and poisons causing ability damage, ability drain, bleeding, confusion, convulsions, nausea, paralysis, reduced healing, suffocation, unconsciousness, or death. Creatures with resistance to poison (such as dwarves) apply that resistance to their saving throws and the effects of poison spells. Creatures with immunity are immune to poisonous aspects of poison spells, but not necessarily all effects of the spell (for example, a spell that creates a pit full of liquid poison could still trap or drown a poison-immune creature). | |||
:::*'''Ruse:''' The ruse descriptor applies to spells that appear to be other, usually more harmless spells in order for the caster to fool her opponents. Spells with the ruse descriptor are easily mistaken for other spells and are intended to confuse even onlookers trained in Spellcraft or Knowledge (arcana). Attempts to identify a ruse spell by its effects, its aura, its components, or other attributes with a skill check treat the spell as though it were a different spell, as indicated in the spells description. The one attempting the check can correctly identify the spell only by exceeding the DC by 10. The false spell is typically a level lower than the ruse spell, so skill checks use the DC for the lower-level spell. Even detect magic and most similar spells dont prevent the caster from being fooled by a ruse spell. Analyze dweomer, greater arcane sight, and similar spells of the same or higher spell level that automatically identify spells reveal a ruse spell for what it is. Ruse spells that mimic harmless spells still list harmless on their saving throw or spell resistance lines; a creature that knows or suspects the true nature of the spell typically chooses to attempt the save. Source: PRG:UI. | |||
:::*'''Shadow:''' Shadow spells manipulate matter or energy from the Shadow Plane, or allow transport to or from that plane. | |||
:::*'''Sonic:''' Sonic effects transmit energy to the target through frequent oscillations of pressure through the air, water, or ground. Sounds that are too high or too low for the humanoid ear to detect can still transmit enough energy to cause harm, which means that these effects can even affect deafened creatures. Sound effects can cause hit point damage, deafness, dizziness, nausea, pain, shortness of breath, and temporary blindness, and can detect creatures using batlike echolocation. | |||
:::*'''Water:''' Spells that manipulate water or conjure creatures from water-dominant planes or with the water subtype should have the water descriptor. | |||
===Range of a Spell=== | ===Range of a Spell=== | ||