Wizardry: Fire Spells I

Wizardry: Fire Spells I

Burning Hands is an iconic D&D fire spell. Continual Flame is a weird one. In D&D, despite being called Continual Flame, it is a light spell, not a fire one. However, here I decided to move it to the college of Fire to give it a bit more utility than to simply set things ablaze. Also, it has a somewhat expensive material component since it lasts permanently and basically creates a magic item. Fireball is another iconic spell, and unlike in GURPS, this is an area effect by default. Since I'd like to keep area damage spells in check, I increased the FP cost and casting time. Delayed Blast Fireball is basically the same, but with a delay.

Wizardry: Meta-Spells II

Wizardry: Meta-Spells II

Break Enchantment is the D&D analogue of Remove Curse. It can remove magical effects that are immune to Dispel Magic, but only targets one spell, and takes a long time to cast. Arcane Mark was a difficult one. I decide to go with a very limited Illusion advantage. Remove Curse is a bit different from the GURPS version. Basically, it's a curse-specific version of Dispelling Touch. Finally, Protection from Spells is a Magic Resistance buff. Doesn't scale!

Wizardry: Ice Spells I

Wizardry: Ice Spells I

Chill Touch got a complete rework. Instead of a necromantic spell that channels negative energy to damage and weaken, this is a cyclic freezing spell. I like this approach more. Cone of Cold is the first proper cone (not a line/1-yard cone) spell that deals non-incendiary cold damage instead of fatigue damage. Ice Storm creates a localized hailstorm that deals crushing damage and impairs hearing, vision, and infravision. Otiluke's Freezing Sphere creates an icy explosion that also freezes victims standing in water.

Wizardry: Making and Breaking Spells I

Wizardry: Making and Breaking Spells I

There aren't that many D&D spells that would belong to the college of Making and Breaking in GURPS, which is a shame. I do not like how Disintegrate works in D&D, so I decided to crossbreed the D&D and GURPS versions. If you look at its statblock, you will see some weird stuff. I wanted to make it so the object affected does not add its DR to its resistance, because that would make the spell way too unreliable. Normally, that would require me to apply Cosmic, Irresistible Attack, +300% to Affliction, but it is very expensive and it would also ignore Magic Resistance and similar traits, which isn't something that I want. Instead, I had to stretch RAW by turning it into a proper Malediction spell and then unmaledict it by applying Weaponized, -50%. Thus, now it's a visible beam that requires an uncontested HT roll to resist, DR does not apply, but other traits that may affect resistance do. Also, now it's ~20 points cheaper. Perfect! Erase curiously doesn't have an equivalent in GURPS. I decided to base it on Create with Writing being a 20-point category, as it also includes script-based spells. Animate Objects in D&D is strictly a combat spell. In GURPS, I made it affect a single object, but now it's much more universal. Animate Rope is a more limited version of the previous spell.

Wizardry: Force Spells II

Wizardry: Force Spells II

Let's do more force spells. Magic Missile is an iconic D&D spell that I already converted in the first ever wizardry post, but it is repeated here for convenience. Blade Barrier creates a wall of force blades. Explosive Runes is yet another iconic spells that created a magical explosive trap. Wall of Force is closer to the GURPS Utter Wall in effect, but still is quite different. All the additional limitations also make it much more affordable.

Wizardry: Sound Spells I

Wizardry: Sound Spells I

Ah, sound spells. Ghost Sound is quite dissimilar from the GURPS Sound spell, as it is not limited to meaningless sounds, and is a "fire and forget" spell, unlike certain illusion spells. Sound Burst is a short-range small area-effect damaging spell that can also deafen. Unlike many other spells, this one requires a musical instrument in the caster's hands. Silence from GURPS Sorcery: Sound Spells is very expensive. Here, I decided to make the basic version only affect normal hearing, and the most expensive improved version to extend to other forms of hearing. This makes the spell more affordable, but also makes traits, such as Ultrahearing and Subsonic Hearing more valuable. Wail of the Banshee from D&D is pretty boring, so I decided to base this spell on its GURPS version. Still, it is quite different from the version from GURPS Sorcery: Sounds Spells. Zone of Silence is similar to the GURPS Wall of Silence spell, but has been reworked into a maintained spell centered on the caster. Just like Silence, it now has an improved version.

Wizardry: Enchantment Spells I

Wizardry: Enchantment Spells I

Enchantment means two different things in D&D and GURPS. In D&D, it's a school of magic that controls minds. In GURPS, it's a school of magic that deals with enchanted items and some effects that don't fit anywhere else. Enchant doesn't exist as a spell in D&D, but I have to include it here, as it is crucial. Basically, it's almost identical to the eponymous Sorcery spell, but now is based on the casting skill, not IQ, which is actually beneficial to devoted enchanters. Magic Weapon is completely different from its D&D counterpart - it simply makes the weapon count as magical, which may be useful when circumventing certain limited defenses. Nystul's Magic Aura received a casting time downgrade compared to its D&D version. The effect is the same. Secret Page is a similar spell that changes the contents of one page until a command word is spoken.

Difficult Terrain and Bad Footing - What a Mess!

Difficult Terrain and Bad Footing - What a Mess!

Don’t you hate it when fights happen on a featureless plane where you can retreat endlessly? Many outdoor environments aren’t as easy to traverse as just walking from one room to another, and fighting is even more difficult! Have you ever been in a forest? On a beach? Does it snow where you live? Such difficult terrain makes positioning and movement much more important in combat, and consequently makes it more fun. So, let’s talk about the difficult terrain rules and try to consolidate them in one place, because, oh boy, they are all over the place.

Wizardry: Earth Spells I

Wizardry: Earth Spells I

I always liked earth magic, even if it usually isn't as flashy as, for example, fire magic. Flesh to Stone is a permanent petrification spell. Stone to Flesh undoes the previous spell. Unlike the D&D spell, it is not able to turn normal stone to flesh, only petrified living beings. Meld into Stone is an interesting spell. My previous Sorcery version of it was incredibly expensive, but now that I've made it closer to its D&D equivalent, it became much more affordable. Stone Tell is a spell that lets you interrogate rocks.

Wizardry: Force Spells I

Wizardry: Force Spells I

Force is a separate magic college in my games. This post will be devoted to a series of iconic D&D spells. Just like various other spells, these can be considered to be different versions of the same spell, and you should be able to improve, for example, Bigby's Interposing Hand to Bigby's Forceful Hand instead of buying them separately.

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells I

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells I

Detect Undead is a simple detection spell. Hide from Undead is a buff that makes the subject invisible to undead (a proper equivalent of the D&D spell that disables all other senses would be much, much more expensive). Disrupt Undead is a weak, non-scaling damaging spell. Disrupting Weapon is a weapon buff that imparts the same effort to the target weapon. Death Ward is a spell that protects against instant death effects.

Wizardry: Darkness Spells I

Wizardry: Darkness Spells I

There are only three darkness spells in Player's Handbook. Sure, there are many shadow spells, but they actually belong to the Illusion and Creation college. Darkness is the reverse of light - it is applied to an object, and it imposes merely a -5 penalty to Vision. Darkvision is a buff that lets the subject see in complete darkness. Deeper Darkness has been altered from its D&D counterpart. Instead of simply lasting longer and having a bigger area, I upgraded Obscure 5 to Obscure 10 and included Infravision and Ultravision. Now, it really is deeper darkness, and not longer darkness.

Wizardry: Lightning Spells I

Wizardry: Lightning Spells I

Surprisingly, there are only five lightning spells in the Player's Handbook, so let's convert them all in one post. Call Lightning calls down a lightning bolt during a storm. While it is weather-dependent, an overhead attack with no 1/2D is nice. Call Lightning Storm is a persistent area bombardment version of the former. I decided to make the area fixed, not leveled. Chain Lightning is a very interesting spell. While usually I try to be very careful with rapid-fire attacks in low-tech games, this one doesn't look very offensive in that regard. Still, I decided to increase the casting time to 2 seconds, since it can hit multiple targets (and to avoid fractional costs). Lightning Bolt is a lightning line attack, and Shocking Grasp is a lightning touch attack. Overall, there's not much special here (aside from Chain Lightning), but these spells are useful for simple blasting.

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells II

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells II

Detect Scrying is a self-only buff that lets you detect scrying attemps for fifteen hours. Very useful in certain situations, and affordable in terms of cost. Nice! Detect Secret Doors made me realize that I forgot something - many divination spells in D&D can be blocked by certain materials. I will have to retroactively apply that to previously made detect spells, such as Detect Poison. I used a -20% limitation, as per GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses. Detect Snares and Pits is an identical spell in terms of mechanics, but detects different things. Find Traps is merely an aspected Vision bonus. Discern Location is slightly different from the eponymous D&D spell, but is powerful nonetheless.

Wizardry: Light Spells I

Wizardry: Light Spells I

More wizardry spells. Light doesn't require gestures to cast. Thus, if you get knocked out and tied up, you can illuminate the dark basement that you wake up in. It lasts quite a while, but it can be dispelled by magical darkness, so in some cases this spell is inferior to mundane torches. Dancing Light is similar to the Light spell from Sorcery. I decided to make it singular - you can create as many lights as you want by casting the spell multiple times, and are not limited to creating four lights, like in the original D&D Dancing Lights spell. Daylight required being very cavalier with RAW, and by that I mean that I disregarded a lot of it in favor of a cleaner and cheaper build. Why? Because I can. As you can see, it's an Affliction that afflicts Create Visible Light (similar to one used in Dancing Light). There is no duration for Affliction, as it is considered "instantaneous," but the duration is defined by the afflicted Create Visible Light. Since one level of Create with -40% can light up an area for one minute, then 5 levels should be enough for 25 minutes, right? The Affliction doesn't even have a FP cost, as it is included in the Create Visible Light advantage (giving CVL Reduced Fatigue Cost 2, +40% and giving Affliction Costs Fatigue, 2 FP, -10% would be more RAW-legal despite the same effect, but also would be more expensive). Technically speaking, I should've given the Affliction Malediction 1, +100% and Based on IQ, Own Roll, +20%, and give Create Visible Light the Cosmic, NDRR, +100% enhancement. That would be the most RAW-appropriate way that again only makes the spell much more expensive. If a beneficial Affliction with Malediction requires a Will roll (that is switched to IQ with Based on IQ, Own Roll), and Create already requires an IQ roll, why not treat that roll as if it were used for the Affliction? This makes the spell much more simple and cheap. I prefer this result to the RAW mess. Flare in D&D used to be a simple cantrip that could dazzle, but I decided to make it a spell that dazzled, and possibly blinds on a bad resistance roll. So, I based it on the Flash ability from GURPS Psionic Powers, and it works well. While you can buy up more levels, huge areas aren't very effective, as the target gets a bonus to resist based on the distance to the center of the area. In this case, since Reduced Duration only applies to the duration of the secondary effect, I divided its limitation value by five.

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells I

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells I

More spells! I'm having a lot of fun with this project. Analyze Dweomer requires an expensive focus, but works even better than Identify. Arcane Eye creates an invisible eye that you can send out to explore the surroundings for you. I had to take some creative liberties with the movement rules here. Augury is a limited Intuition spell that due to its limitations shouldn't short-circuit any adventures, I think. Again, I had to rework the Intuition rules here slightly, but I think they are fair. Clairaudience and Clairvoyance were split into two spells. Unlike Arcane Eye, they create an immobile sensor that requires constant concentration, and have much shorter range. However, the sensor can be placed outside of the line of sight, which can be a big advantage. Quite cheap too.

Wizardry: Communication and Empathy Spells I

Wizardry: Communication and Empathy Spells I

Communication and Empathy is one of my favorite magic colleges in GURPS, as it is surprisingly useful and diverse. Let's convert some D&D spells. Calm Emotions is simple, but has somewhat vague game effect, as is often the case with emotions. Comprehend Languages is actually very different from the GURPS Gift of Tongues/Letters. While it does combine the two effects, it is much more limited, as it is a self-only buff, requires touching a "sample," and only grants one-way fluency. However, it's quite a cheap spell that definitely would be useful in many situations. Detect Thoughts differs from the normal Mind Reading advantage, as it requires constant concentration. Discern Lies is not a 100% effective method of detecting truth and lies, and I think that this is a good change. I based this spell on the Truth Sense ability from GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses, but adjusted the limitation values. Eagle's Splendor gives the subject Charisma 2 (I decided to make this effect static). Mass Eagle's Splendor is a mass version of the previous spell.

Wizardry: Poison Spells I

Wizardry: Poison Spells I

I decided to downgrade Cloudkill from an instant heart attack to a resistible toxic damage. Detect Poison is self-explanatory. Delay Poison makes the subject temporarily immune to poison and lasts a long time, while Neutralize Poison flushes the poison in 1d hours. Thus, the former is better against short-duration poisons with frequent cycles, while the latter is better against long-duration poisons with less frequent cycles. Isn't that nice? Stinking Cloud is an obscure/coughing spell. Poison doesn't actually work like the D&D spell - I very much prefer my version based on the Poisoning spell from Pyramid #4-1.

Wizardry: Spell Index

Wizardry: Spell Index

Since wizardry is my new Sisyphean task, and there already are many spells written up, I have to create an index for the ease of navigation. Now, instead of a simple alphabetical list, I will divide the spells into colleges that I use in my games, and also include the minimum costs.

Wizardry: Mind Control Spells I

Wizardry: Mind Control Spells I

According to my estimates, the mind control college based on the spells from the Player's Handbook will be the biggest one, as pretty much the entire Enchantment magic school goes there. Sleep and Owl's Wisdom have appeared in my first wizardry post and are here for convenience. Antipathy is similar to the GURPS Avoid spell. Initially, I was basing it on Mind Control, but an Affliction that afflicts Dread is much more simple and cheap. About five times cheaper and actually affordable, which is nice. Charm is a combination of Charm Person and Charm Monster. This was a surprisingly difficult one to stat up. Afflicting Sense of Duty (Caster) is not allowed, as it's a self-imposed mental disadvantage. It seemed that the only option was to go with Mind Control with Conditioning Only limited to only adding Sense of Duty (Caster), but that would require two Quick Contests and the subject to be restrained. And this is not how this spell is supposed to be used! Instead, I went with Mind Control with One Emotion Only (from GURPS Horror), and I decided to count friendship/loyalty as an emotion. This allowed me to create a spell that works similar to how the original spell works, that isn't convoluted, and that is affordable to your normal spellcaster. Nice! Mass Charm is an area version of the same spell, but with a much longer duration. Useful for cult leaders. Also, why is there only Mass Charm Monster, but not Mass Charm Person in PHB? Feels strange.

Wizardry: Water Spells I

Wizardry: Water Spells I

Create Water exists as a separate spell in D&D, and also as part of Create Food and Water. It has a unique trait - it can be cast at range, probably to douse flames. Purify Water was excised from Purify Food and Drink and made into a separate spell. Control Water in D&D raises or lowers the water level, but that's what the Tides spell does in GURPS. Instead, I decided to rework Control Water as something akin to the GURPS Shape Water spell, but allow it to only affect liquid water, and limit it to Move 1. Thus, this is closer to Commanding Water from GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers. Water Breathing and Water Walk are self-explanatory buffs.

Wizardry: Illusion Spells I

Wizardry: Illusion Spells I

Let's convert some of the illusion spells from D&D. For the most part, they are similar to the illusion spells from GURPS Magic. In the original version, they also requires a bit of fleece as a focus, but I opted to remove it. Silent Image is almost identical to the GURPS Simple Illusion, but requires constant concentration and hence doesn't have Independent, +40%. Minor Image adds sounds, but not speech. Major Image adds thermal, touch, taste, smell, and fully-functional sound effects. Programmed Image is something more interesting, as it lets you create an illusion that is triggered by a specific condition. Illusory Wall creates a permanent illusion of a wall to populate your dungeon with fake walls and floors.

Wizardry: Food Spells I

Wizardry: Food Spells I

The Player's Handbook for D&D 3.5 doesn't have many food spells. There's only Create Food and Water, Purify Food and Drink, and Heroes' Feast. First of all, I will split off the water component of the first two spells and move it to the college of water magic, but I will keep it for Heroes' Feast. Food creation, however, still poses some problems. While water is effectively free and can be easily created with the Create advantage, food actually costs money and is an important factor in games about exploration and travel, and also will affect the game world in a significant way, unless somehow restricted. I used to use Snatcher for my Create Food spell, but now I will rework it with the Create advantage, as there is a precedent in GURPS Powers: Divine Favor. Food/Drink is a Medium category, so I will downgrade Food to a Small category (10 points/level). Food weight is taken as for traveller's rations and prices were taken as for simple and bland food from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 10: Taverns. As for Purify Food, I went the same route, but I won't require stabilization. Heroes' Feast is a tuned up Create Food with drinks added into the mix. I decided to remove all the furniture, service, and extra bonuses, and just leave the essence of the feast - food and drink. The quantity of food required to feed 50 people is taken from the Feed the Masses (Enhanced) prayer from Divine Favor, and the price (a huge one!) of the feast was calculated as $12 (lavish meal) + $12 (fine wine) times 50, as per the Taverns book.

Wizardry: Time Spells I

Wizardry: Time Spells I

Technically speaking, GURPS doesn't have the Time College, but I prefer to include it. Two of the time spells were already converted in my Movement spell post, and there are only four left (for now). Haste is a simple buff that increases Basic Speed. I'll leave ATR for a more powerful spell. Longstrider takes a while to cast, but lasts a long time. It simply gives you (and only you) a bonus to Basic Move. Temporal Stasis is... very expensive, unreasonably so. It does have a permanent duration, which is nice, but I had to include the character point cost to bring down the cost from 133 points to 27 points, which is sensible. So, if your character has some Impulse Points, feel free to use this spell! The original spell also had a very expensive material component, but I decided to remove it - imagine wasting an equivalent of 5,000 gp on a failed casting. Time Stop is an iconic D&D spell, I love the result. Maximum Duration often leads to incredibly low costs, but I managed to compensate it partially with Extra Carrying Capacity. As it is right now, it is expensive, but affordable, I like it.

Magic Healing and Its Effect on the Game World

Magic Healing and Its Effect on the Game World

There are many aspects of this subject that can be talked about, especially the worldbuilding implications.