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Old 05-22-2020, 08:18 AM   #72
ZooProfessor
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Default Re: Show me the magic!

Our IQ 15 Spells:

3-HEX Chrysalis(C): Exactly like Chrysalis except the cocoon is now on any three connected hexes. Anyone who knows this spell also knows Chrysalis without additional IQ or XP cost. *C*

Advanced Mage Sight (T): A more advanced version of Mage Sight and any wizard who knows this spell knows Mage Sight for free. This spell does everything that Mage Sight will do, plus it also allows its subject to see through any substance except lead that is one foot or less deep. The wizard decides how deeply he or she wishes to look (so a wizard could choose to only see through a layer of cloth to view the contents of someone’s pocket or could see through a person’s leg to see if the bone is broken). This spell effectively makes something transparent for the subject, however whatever the subject is trying to see through has to be no further away than 1 HX. So a wizard using this spell couldn’t sit on a hill and look through the foot-thick walls of a tower, but that same wizard COULD stand right next to the wall and have his vision penetrate the wall and then he could see as far into the tower as his normal vision would show (just as if that section of the tower’s wall was transparent). Cost: 4 ST for 12 turns, plus 2 per minute to continue.

Advanced Shrink/Grow Object (T): This works on a 1 HX object. The characteristics of the object stay the same, but the object shrinks or grows by 10% for every 3 ST used to cast. This spell lasts for 1 day. It can only work on a single object at a time, so it would not work to pile several small items into one hex and cast only one spell to shrink or grow them all. The tensile strength of certain items may be compromised if it is grown to exaggeratedly huge proportions (GM’s discretion). The mass and volume of the item will increase or decrease as the dimensions increase or decrease. Any wizard who knows this spell also knows the Shrink/Grow Object spell for free.

Asp’s Sting (S): Asp’s Sting can only ever be cast by a wizard on herself. When reading this spell’s effects one might immediately think of the Hammertouch spell, since both allow the wizard to do damage with bare hands, but there are several critical differences in the two spells. Asp’s Sting does no damage to anything other than a living creature, while Hammertouch can be used against objects. Hammertouch lasts for three turns while Asp’s Sting lasts indefinitely until its power is expended into a victim, but once that happens one time the spell effect is finished and would need to be recast to be used again. That means that a Hammertouch spell can be used right away and for the next three-turn interval, while Asp’s Sting will be good for only one attack, but it can be cast in advance if desired and then used for a single devastating wound when needed. Asp’s Sting requires more advance preparation (explained below) and costs a blood price upon each use since the wizard expends ST in the form of actual damage and NOT in fatigue. Asp’s Sting requires the bare skin of the wizard to touch the bare skin of the enemy (it is perfectly safe to touch the wizard until he or she wills the Sting to take effect, but then it would be supremely dangerous for an enemy to slap the wizard’s face, for example).

If multiple people are touching the wizard at exactly the same time, the wizard can will each point of the Sting to go into a specific victim but this is the only circumstance in which one sting can affect more than one combatant--- the wizard cannot, for example, cast a 5 ST Asp’s Sting and use them in separate attacks using 3 ST in the first and 2 ST in the second. A wizard who has cast a 5 ST Sting COULD choose to only use 2 ST against the victim, but the benefits of the other 3 ST would be lost AND the blood price for them would still be 5 ST. A wizard can choose to blunt the effect of the Sting to an enemy, but must decide on how much damage he or she will take upon the instant of casting (though this damage is not sustained UNTIL the Sting is used in combat). The Asp’s Sting is dangerous to enemies, but dangerous to the wizard as well. A wizard CAN kill himself with this spell.

For example, if a wizard with a basic ST of 10 has taken 5 points of damage and then she chooses to unleash the power of an 8 point Sting in combat, she will take those points and be at -3. Now suppose the same wizard of basic ST of 10 had 5 points of FATIGUE and then unleashed the 8 point Sting, she would be unconscious until “resting” enough to recover the fatigue points. It is rarely a good idea to use more than half your basic ST in an Asp’s Sting spell, but you can use up to your total basic ST if you choose to accept the consequences for yourself.
Why then would someone ever choose Asp’s Sting over Hammertouch? First, because the damage is greater. For every one ST point of DAMAGE the wizard expends, the enemy sustains 1D + 1 of damage. Second, damage done by Asp’s Sting bypasses armor (it does NOT bypass magical protection, like Iron Flesh or the Spell Shield). Third, when the wizard chooses to cast the spell before the fight, he or she can try until the casting is successful (no ST damage is sustained if the casting fails), so once in the fight the wizard need only will the effects to hit (no DX roll during combat) so success is a guaranteed event, the only question is how much damage the enemy will sustain.

Hammertouch is a better spell for when a wizard expects to be standing toe to toe with enemies on a regular basis. Asp’s Sting is a better spell for when a wizard wants secret protection that might save her life in a desperate situation where she is forced into direct contact with an enemy.

In order to be able to use Asp’s Sting at all, magical sigils must be tattooed on the wizard’s arms. These can be done at the Wizard’s Guild, but that is not necessarily the only place. Some theorize that these sigils open the wizard to some higher being (snake demon or snake god—depends on whose theory you listen to), but the Wizard’s Guild mostly disdains this explanation (at least in public). There have been religions (cults) that have sprung up around this idea of connection to some snake deity and you will sometimes find groups of people all with tattoos that look similar to the ones that open the wizard to the spell (whether or not all the tattoos you see are truly magical is another question). The magical version of the tattoos can be completely invisible or can be showy--- a warning to potential enemies--- and that is always up to the wizard. If the tattoos are visible they will look like snakes twined around the wizard’s forearms and raised up with bared fangs, obviously ready to strike.

When a wizard casts Asp’s Sting, whether before the combat or during it, he or she must note this on the character sheet along with the details of how much ST damage is being sunk into the spell. The wizard sustains no damage and no fatigue on the point of casting--- and failed casts cost nothing ever. Once successfully cast, the Asp’s Sting is ready for use. When used, the wizard just needs an instant of skin to skin contact to will the spell’s effects to hit--- and then they hit the enemy and the wizard both at once.

Innervate: (T): This is like a combination of an Agility, Cleverness, and Strengthen spell combined. Casting wizard can increase ST, DX, and IQ ALL by 2 points for every 3ST the wizard uses to cast it. Lasts for 3 turns. As with Agility, this spell cannot be used to help in the creation of magical items. Agility, Cleverness, and Strengthen spells are prerequisites for this spell.

Megahex Invisibility (T): Like Invisibility spell, but covering a megahex (the casting distance from the wizard is calculated based on the closest hex of the desired megahex of affected area). Any wizard who has this spell has the ability to cast the spell on any portion of connected hexes that would be inside of a single megahex. Cost: 5 ST to cast, plus 1 each turn it is maintained. Any wizard who knows this spell also knows the Invisibility spell, so if only one hex need be made invisible the less powerful spell could be used for a lower ST cost.
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