Uses for Spasm spell

[arnej]

So, we get the example "Foe drops his weapon"

What else can you do with a Spasm spell? Can you make a foe fall down by having their leg buckle? Choke when they're swallowing?

Any ideas?

[Celjabba]

I had a player use it to fish ... his character was bored on a trip downriver and would use spasm on huge fishes from the boat deck, trying to get them to jump out of water.

Getting someone to trip is a more serious use. Can be deadly if used on a galloping horse for example.

I forbade the use of it on the heart and other internal muscles, but technically there are tons of nasty possibilities there.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Social Engineering.

A spasm at just the right moment can ruin a person's reputation. (say, giving the Duchess a kiss on the hand, then a spasm and he ends up hitting himself in the face and yanking the duchess off balance)

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Celjabba

I forbade the use of it on the heart and other internal muscles

The spell does specify voluntary muscles only.

"Drop your weapon" is particularly good after your opponent has just spent three turns and 9+ FP charging up that Fireball.

Give the fencing master instructing the wrong heir a spasm so he doesn't pull his blow, making sure the right heir comes into line. Or the other way around; have a defense by the prince fail (which has the bonus that there's no one to claim that they had a mysterious Spasm strike them).

Save the prince by making him drop the glass into which the evil vizier slipped the poison.

Trip a victim into a pit or off a bridge into the lava or obligatory Evil Overlord bottomless pit.

Choke on your tongue, which at the least will make spellcasting difficult. Add Reflex to give you a spell interrupt.

Let go of a bowstring or pull that trigger during the tense standoff where someone's trying to avoid violence. Have the "bad" guys shoot their own hostage.

Drop the bombs early, so they at least miss their intended target.

Cut the red wire! Nope, you got the blue one.

Let go of a rope right after the Spaniard has sworn on the soul of his father that his opponent will reach the top alive.

Hit Atlas to make him drop the sky onto the world. That'll probably set some sort of record for damage per energy point.

[coronatiger]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Hit Atlas to make him drop the sky onto the world. That'll probably set some sort of record for damage per energy point.

It'll probably also set a record for FP spent to enlarge a Regular spell.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by coronatiger

It'll probably also set a record for FP spent to enlarge a Regular spell.

Use it on Herakles during the day or so that he’s stuck with the duty instead.

...

Use it on a noble’s neck - or his groomer’s hand/arm - during his morning shave.

Use it on an acrobat while he’s doing a stunt, preferably one involving heights.

Use it on one of the guards during one of those “Royals walk through corridor of upraised swords” ceremonies.

Use it on the party thief while he’s disarming a trap.

Use it on an assassin as he’s poisoning his weapon.

[Celjabba]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

The spell does specify voluntary muscles only.

So it does ... in 4e.

That particular campaign was with 3e rules, who only specifies "any of the subject's muscles" ...
I definitively approve of this update :)

[arnej]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Or the other way around; have a defense by the prince fail (which has the bonus that there's no one to claim that they had a mysterious Spasm strike them).

This one is interesting. How would this work? The timing seems tricky, but if you could pull it off, you could help a teammate out a lot.

[Dalin]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

"Drop your weapon" is particularly good after your opponent has just spent three turns and 9+ FP charging up that Fireball.

I've found this to be a good way for minor opponent casters to be effective against the PCs. Give an orc shaman the spell at level 15 or 16 and they have good odds of beating the HT resistance of a beginning delver. At 1 FP per turn (with skill 15+), the caster can do this repeatedly on different opponents. Boost the skill a bit more to allow casting at more range. Put a few shamans behind the ogres and they can cause quite a bit of pain to a party, with far better odds of success than attempting to build up and throw missile spells.

This almost ended things for our group in Mirror of the Fire Demon. A shaman hit the bard with this while he was holding a maxed Concussion missile. He was knocked out and the rest of the party would have risked being stunned if some of them weren't already standing in a Silence field.

If someone invests enough to get skill 20, they can do this for free with no ritual, making it harder to identify them as the caster.

An epic enchanted weapon, shield, or suit of armor might include the spasm spell, causing opponents to be more likely to drop their weapons. That goes beyond the possibilities in GURPS Magic, but it seems reasonable for a high-powered DF game.