There are ten 5th-level druid spells in AD&D, just as there were in OD&D. None of the spells are new; the only alteration from the OD&D spell list is that hold plant (which was dropped to 4th-level) has been replaced by insect plague. Otherwise, it's the rare case of a spell level that has survived relatively unchanged.
Animal Growth: Causes up to 8 animals within range to double in size, which also doubles their Hit Dice and damage. It should be noted that this doesn't necessarily mean that said animals will aid the caster, although spells like speak with animals and charm person or mammal are specifically called out as good ones to cast in conjunction with animal growth. Once again there are no guidelines as to what constitutes an "animal" in D&D, but it's been previously established that it means real-world animals, which also includes dinosaurs. So look out for those double-strength tyrannosauruses.
The spell can also be reversed, which halves animals in size, Hit Dice and damage. But it also lets those tyrannosauruses fit into smaller corridors...
The OD&D version of the spell only affected 1d6 creatures, and was also vague in its mechanical effects: it caused animals to "grow to giant-size with proportionate attack capabilities". Another one for the DM to figure out himself, I'm afraid. It didn't have a reversed version.
Animal Summoning II: Like animal summoning I, but it can summon six animals of up to 8 HD, or twelve animals of up to 4 HD. (Animal Summoning I could only summon eight 4 HD animals.)
In OD&D, this spell was a double-strength version of animal summoning I, which was quite different to the spell in AD&D: it allowed the summoning of one large animal, three of medium size, or six small animals. Whether the doubling of animal summoning II applied to Hit Dice or number of creatures (or both) is not made clear.
Anti-Plant Shell: Creates a barrier that keeps out all living plant creatures, such as shambling mounds or treants. Note that it specifies "living" plant matter; it won't stop clubs and arrow shafts or other wooden weapons. The OD&D version of the spell was much the same.
Commune With Nature: Grants the caster knowledge of the surrounding area, with a radius of half a mile per caster level. The caster can learn one fact per level, which generally means things like terrain, the presence of water, inhabitants, minerals, etc. It only works outdoors, so it can't be used to learn about a dungeon. (What if you cast it at the dungeon entrance, though? Would you then be able to learn things about a subterranean dungeon?)
The OD&D spell was effectively the same, but it specified that the Druid was communing with "higher powers". What those higher powers were was left unclear. Were they gods? Nature spirits? Who knows, but I'm happy to leave it unanswered; not every mystery needs to be solved.
Control Winds: This spell has a simple effect - it can increase or decrease wind force by 3mph per caster level - but the ramifications of that effect are anything but simple. The spell goes into how high wind speeds affect flying creatures, missile fire, structures, and sailing ships. The guidelines are bare bones, but evocative; I'd love to play a high-level druid that can uproot a city block with hurricane-force winds. The spell can be counteracted by the same spell cast by a higher-level druid. It can even be cast indoors or underground, but when this is done the "safe space" around the caster grows proportionately smaller, making the spell more dangerous for the druid's allies.
Insect Plague: Like the cleric spell of the same name, this spell summons a swarm of insects that obscure visibility, inflict 1 point of damage per round to all within range regardless of AC, and cause weaker creatures to flee if they fail a morale check.
The OD&D spell was similar, but didn't inflict any damage, and the creatures that it caused to check morale were a little weaker. It also lasted for a full day, as opposed to AD&D's more reasonable 1 turn per level.
Pass Plant: The caster of this spell can step inside a tree, and teleport into another tree of the same sort within range. Oddly, the range is dependent on the type of tree, and I can't really see the logic in it. Why does an oak tree grant a better range than an elm? Why do deciduous trees give a better range than coniferous? Only Gary knows, and I doubt anybody ever bothered to ask him. Anyway, the caster specifies which direction he wants to teleport, but he can only go that way if there's an appropriate tree there; if not, he is transported to the tree nearest to his desired location. If that tree happens to be in the opposite direction, well, that's bad luck. (This is another spell that's highly dependent on DM fiat; it's unlikely that the DM will have specified the type and location of every single tree in the forest, so it will all come down to the DM's decision, or a random die roll.)
The OD&D version of the spell is basically the same, only with some different range values for the various types of tree.
Sticks to Snakes: This spell is the same as the cleric spell, turning one stick per caster level into a snake (that may be poisonous). The druid version of the spell has a greater range, and requires mistletoe, but is otherwise unchanged.
Transmute Rock to Mud: Transforms a 2" cube per caster level of natural stone into mud. Creatures that can't free themselves from the mud (via flight, levitation or some other means) will sink down and suffocate, which is incredibly lethal if you play this by the book; it's an instant kill with no saving throw, and given its large area of effect could take out a small army in one go. The mud remains until a dispel magic or transmute mud to rock (the reverse of this spell) is cast on it, or until it dries up (a process requiring 1 to 6 days for every 1" cube).
The OD&D version of the spell had a fixed area of 30" square, and made no specific mention of creatures caught within being suffocated. It dried up in 3d6 days, regardless of area.
Wall of Fire: Creates a wall of amber fire that inflicts 4d4 damage (+1 per caster level) to anyone that passes through it, 2d4 to anything within 1", and 1d4 to anything within 2". Certain creatures susceptible to fire, as well as undead, always take double damage. The wall lasts for as long as the caster concentrates on it (or for 1 round per caster level without concentration). It can be shaped as a stationary wall, or a ring that moves with the caster, and only the side facing away from the caster inflicts damage.
In OD&D, the spell repelled all creatures of less than 4 Hit Dice, but it only dealt 1d6 damage to creatures passing through (although it still did double damage to undead). There was no mention of the ring version of the spell being able to move with the caster, and the spell only lasted as long as it was being concentrated upon. It's range was lower, and the area of effect was fixed rather than increasing with level as it does in AD&D.
Showing posts with label Druids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Druids. Show all posts
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Monday, August 24, 2009
Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry part 9
Today I’m continuing with the Druid spell list, covering levels 5, 6 and 7.
5th LEVEL: Wall of Fire, Control Winds, Pass Plant, Hold Plant, Animal Growth, Commune With Nature, Anti-Plant Shell, Transmute Rock to Mud, Turn Sticks to Snakes, and Animal Summoning II.
Wall of Fire, Animal Growth, Transmute Rock to Mud and Turn Sticks to Snakes are all pre-existing spells. Hold Plant is a variation on Hold Monster that works on animated plants like Ents and Shambling Mounds. Commune With Nature is much like the Cleric spell Commune, but the Druid must perform the spell outdoors, and only gets answers which pertain to nature. Anti-Plant Shell is a spell much like Anti-Magic Shell that stops all plant-based attacks. Animal Summoning II is simply a more powerful version of Animal Summoning I.
Control Winds: This spell allows the caster to either calm a strong wind, or create winds of great force. The winds created are strong enough to drive flying creatures from the air and make sailing impossible.
Pass Plant: The caster of this spell can pass from one type of tree to another of the same type within 480 feet. In a somewhat ludicrously exhaustive touch, there is a list of tree types that the spell can affect, and certain types get a bonus or penalty to the distance traveled. I think this is the spell I was getting mixed up with when I wrote about Plant Door yesterday. Quite obviously, that spell is simply used to create a tunnel through dense forest. This is the one that lets you teleport.
6th LEVEL: Conjure Fire Elemental, Weather Summoning, Transport via Plants, Anti-Animal Shell, Animal Summoning III, Finger of Death, Turn Wood.
Finger of Death and Feeblemind are both pre-existing spells. Anti-Animal Shell is a variation on Anti-Plant Shell, and Animal Summoning III is a stronger version of Animal Summoning I.
Conjure Fire Elemental: This is pretty much the same as the magic-user spell Conjure Elemental, except that it can only summon a Fire Elemental. But given that Druids have a stronger connection to fire, the elemental won’t turn on the druid. There’s also a chance that a few salamanders might be summoned, or that the elemental will be super-huge. Gotta love those random old-school D&D factors.
Weather Summoning: This lets the druid create any weather pattern he wants, so long as it’s reasonably consistent with the current environment. Only Druids of 11th level or higher can make really extreme weather, and druids may act in concert to combine effects. As mentioned yesterday, this is pretty nasty when combined with Call Lightning.
Transport via Plants: This is like Pass Plant, but the Druid can go from one plant to another of the same type he has seen or heard about with no range restrictions. The only caveat is that if there’s an error (as in the Teleport spell) the druid will go to a totally different species and may end up very far away from his intended destination.
Turn Wood: This creates a giant wall of force that repels any wooden object in its path.
7th LEVEL: Fire Storm, Control Weather, Conjure Earth Elemental, Animate Rock, Reincarnation, Creeping Doom, Confusion, Transmute Metal to Wood
Control Weather, Reincarnation, and Confusion are pre-existing spells. Conjure Earth Elemental is the same as the fire elemental spell above. Animate Rock is a variation on Animate Any Object, that only affects stone.
Fire Storm: This spell creates flame in a large area, with the same damage and effect as a Wall of Fire. So it doesn’t do a whole lot of damage, but it can set stuff on fire and can be used to extinguish a big fire as well.
Creeping Doom: This spell summons 100-1,000 small insects and centipedes and spiders and other creepy-crawlies. They move forward and attack anything they are commanded to. There’s no damage range given, so I’ll have to take a look at the rules for insects in OD&D (alas, my books are not with me just now). Needless to say I won’t be making several hundred attack rolls a round, so I’ll probably come up with some formula that averages out the number of hits for each level of Armor Class, and deal 1 point of damage for each hit. That sounds plenty deadly to me.
Transmute Metal to Wood: This spell changes metal into wood permanently. Saving throws apply of course, but eventually that vorpal sword is going to be transmuted if enough attacks hit it…
So that’s the Druid spell list. Alas, there’s not much here in the way of campaign tidbits, but I do need to explain why they are no longer drawing from the complete list of Cleric and Magic-User spells. The obvious answer is to tie it into the dungeons, and why the Druids are exploring the depths. I’ve already decided that the aberrant nature of the dungeon and its denizens is a threat to the natural world that the Druids would like to see dealt with. I’ll place something down there, either an object or a monster or something, whose awakening has caused a sudden limitation in the spell-casting powers of the Druids. It’s something I’ll have to make insanely difficult to correct – though not impossible. Although I plan to follow the development of D&D as closely as possible, I’m not opposed to derailment by the PCs. It’s their game after all.
Next: Monsters! And very cool ones at that…
5th LEVEL: Wall of Fire, Control Winds, Pass Plant, Hold Plant, Animal Growth, Commune With Nature, Anti-Plant Shell, Transmute Rock to Mud, Turn Sticks to Snakes, and Animal Summoning II.
Wall of Fire, Animal Growth, Transmute Rock to Mud and Turn Sticks to Snakes are all pre-existing spells. Hold Plant is a variation on Hold Monster that works on animated plants like Ents and Shambling Mounds. Commune With Nature is much like the Cleric spell Commune, but the Druid must perform the spell outdoors, and only gets answers which pertain to nature. Anti-Plant Shell is a spell much like Anti-Magic Shell that stops all plant-based attacks. Animal Summoning II is simply a more powerful version of Animal Summoning I.
Control Winds: This spell allows the caster to either calm a strong wind, or create winds of great force. The winds created are strong enough to drive flying creatures from the air and make sailing impossible.
Pass Plant: The caster of this spell can pass from one type of tree to another of the same type within 480 feet. In a somewhat ludicrously exhaustive touch, there is a list of tree types that the spell can affect, and certain types get a bonus or penalty to the distance traveled. I think this is the spell I was getting mixed up with when I wrote about Plant Door yesterday. Quite obviously, that spell is simply used to create a tunnel through dense forest. This is the one that lets you teleport.
6th LEVEL: Conjure Fire Elemental, Weather Summoning, Transport via Plants, Anti-Animal Shell, Animal Summoning III, Finger of Death, Turn Wood.
Finger of Death and Feeblemind are both pre-existing spells. Anti-Animal Shell is a variation on Anti-Plant Shell, and Animal Summoning III is a stronger version of Animal Summoning I.
Conjure Fire Elemental: This is pretty much the same as the magic-user spell Conjure Elemental, except that it can only summon a Fire Elemental. But given that Druids have a stronger connection to fire, the elemental won’t turn on the druid. There’s also a chance that a few salamanders might be summoned, or that the elemental will be super-huge. Gotta love those random old-school D&D factors.
Weather Summoning: This lets the druid create any weather pattern he wants, so long as it’s reasonably consistent with the current environment. Only Druids of 11th level or higher can make really extreme weather, and druids may act in concert to combine effects. As mentioned yesterday, this is pretty nasty when combined with Call Lightning.
Transport via Plants: This is like Pass Plant, but the Druid can go from one plant to another of the same type he has seen or heard about with no range restrictions. The only caveat is that if there’s an error (as in the Teleport spell) the druid will go to a totally different species and may end up very far away from his intended destination.
Turn Wood: This creates a giant wall of force that repels any wooden object in its path.
7th LEVEL: Fire Storm, Control Weather, Conjure Earth Elemental, Animate Rock, Reincarnation, Creeping Doom, Confusion, Transmute Metal to Wood
Control Weather, Reincarnation, and Confusion are pre-existing spells. Conjure Earth Elemental is the same as the fire elemental spell above. Animate Rock is a variation on Animate Any Object, that only affects stone.
Fire Storm: This spell creates flame in a large area, with the same damage and effect as a Wall of Fire. So it doesn’t do a whole lot of damage, but it can set stuff on fire and can be used to extinguish a big fire as well.
Creeping Doom: This spell summons 100-1,000 small insects and centipedes and spiders and other creepy-crawlies. They move forward and attack anything they are commanded to. There’s no damage range given, so I’ll have to take a look at the rules for insects in OD&D (alas, my books are not with me just now). Needless to say I won’t be making several hundred attack rolls a round, so I’ll probably come up with some formula that averages out the number of hits for each level of Armor Class, and deal 1 point of damage for each hit. That sounds plenty deadly to me.
Transmute Metal to Wood: This spell changes metal into wood permanently. Saving throws apply of course, but eventually that vorpal sword is going to be transmuted if enough attacks hit it…
So that’s the Druid spell list. Alas, there’s not much here in the way of campaign tidbits, but I do need to explain why they are no longer drawing from the complete list of Cleric and Magic-User spells. The obvious answer is to tie it into the dungeons, and why the Druids are exploring the depths. I’ve already decided that the aberrant nature of the dungeon and its denizens is a threat to the natural world that the Druids would like to see dealt with. I’ll place something down there, either an object or a monster or something, whose awakening has caused a sudden limitation in the spell-casting powers of the Druids. It’s something I’ll have to make insanely difficult to correct – though not impossible. Although I plan to follow the development of D&D as closely as possible, I’m not opposed to derailment by the PCs. It’s their game after all.
Next: Monsters! And very cool ones at that…
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry part 8
Today I'm going to take a look at the new spell list for the Druid class. Previously, as a monster in Supplement I, Druids were a sort of multi-classed Cleric/Magic-User, and could cast spells from both classes. Now they get their own spell list. Although it draws from the list for Clerics and Magic-Users, and also includes a few brand new spells, the power level is a stiff drop. I'm going to take a stab at explaining that tomorrow, but first I'll look at the spells themselves.
1st LEVEL: Predict Weather, Locate Animals, Detect Snares & Pits, Detect Magic, Purify Water, and Faerie Fire.
Most of these are self-explanatory, and in general are just nature-themed variations on existing spells. Faerie Fire outlines the target in a faint glow, and is mostly useful for making an enemy easier to hit in the dark. Nevertheless it's a well-known D&D spell, and makes its debut here.
2nd LEVEL: Produce Flame, Locate Plants, Speak With Animals, Cure Light Wounds, Obscurement, Create Water, Heat Metal, Warp Wood.
Speak With Animals, Cure Light Wounds and Create Water are existing Cleric spells, while Locate Plants is a variation on Locate Animals (itself a variation on Locate Objects).
Produce Flame: The druid can make a small flame spring from his palm. It's mostly useful for igniting combustibles like wood and paper, and it's definitely not intended as an attack spell, as no damage range is given. No doubt someone will try it at some point, though, so I'll probably go with a range of 1d4.
Obscurement: This spell summons a mist that the Druid can hide in.
Heat Metal: Given that Druids are forbidden from using metal armour and weapons, it's appropriate that they get a spell specifically designed to hose anyone who attacks them with those very things. It makes any metal get progressively hotter, causing damage, and maybe blistering a hand or baking someone's head until he gets dizzy and fall unconscious.
Warp Wood: This spell makes straight pieces of wood bend out of shape. The examples given are spears, arrows, and boats, but I would think that the most useful application is on dungeon doors.
3rd LEVEL: Pyrotechnics, Protection From Fire, Call Lightning, Cure Disease, Hold Animal, Plant Growth, Water Breathing, Neutralize Poison.
Pyrotechnics, Cure Disease, Plant Growth, Water Breathing and Neutralize Poison are all existing spells. Hold Animal is a variant on Hold Monster that only affects birds, mammals, reptiles and fish.
Protection From Fire: Really? Is this the first time this spell has appeared? I'm shocked. Anyway, when cast on a non-druid it confers the same abilities as a Ring of Fire Resistance. On a Druid, it confers complete resistance to fire, and that includes fire balls, meteor swarms, balrogs, and dragons. Very, very nice, even though the spell ends when one of those attacks hits it.
Call Lightning: This spell summons a lightning bolt that deals 8d6 damage, with an extra damage die per level of the Druid. That sounds awesome, but the spell can only be used outside during a storm, and you can only summon one bolt every 10 minutes. But, combine it with the 6th level Weather Summoning, and you've got yourself a nasty spell.
4th LEVEL: Produce Fire, Protection From Lightning, Speak With Plants, Plant Door, Insect Plague, Control Temperature 10' radius, Cure Serious Wounds, Animal Summoning I, Hallucinatory Forest, Dispel Magic
Speak With Plants, Insect Plague, Cure Serious Wounds, Animal Summoning I and Dispel Magic are all existing spells. Animal Summoning I was a Cleric spell called Conjure Animals. Also, Protection From Lightning is much the same as Protection From Fire.
Produce Fire: A version of Produce Flame with a much larger area. It can also be used to extinguish a fire, so that's useful.
Plant Door: The use of this spell is a little hazy. It allows the Druid to create a door in dense plant growth or a tree trunk, and only other Druids or a dryad can pass through. But where does the door lead? Is it anywhere within a 100' radius? That seems the likely option, but it needs a little clarification.
Control Temperatures, 10' radius: This spell can raise or lower temperatures by 50 degrees (Fahrenheit, I assume). It needs a bit of mistletoe, which is the standard Druid holy symbol.
Hallucinatory Forest: This spell makes the target believe it is in a forest, though it doesn't work on other druids, magical forest creatures, or ents. I'm having some trouble thinking of uses for this, but those are some of the best spells I think. I enjoy it when the players take something like this and turn it against me.
Tomorrow: I'll finish up the Druid spells.
1st LEVEL: Predict Weather, Locate Animals, Detect Snares & Pits, Detect Magic, Purify Water, and Faerie Fire.
Most of these are self-explanatory, and in general are just nature-themed variations on existing spells. Faerie Fire outlines the target in a faint glow, and is mostly useful for making an enemy easier to hit in the dark. Nevertheless it's a well-known D&D spell, and makes its debut here.
2nd LEVEL: Produce Flame, Locate Plants, Speak With Animals, Cure Light Wounds, Obscurement, Create Water, Heat Metal, Warp Wood.
Speak With Animals, Cure Light Wounds and Create Water are existing Cleric spells, while Locate Plants is a variation on Locate Animals (itself a variation on Locate Objects).
Produce Flame: The druid can make a small flame spring from his palm. It's mostly useful for igniting combustibles like wood and paper, and it's definitely not intended as an attack spell, as no damage range is given. No doubt someone will try it at some point, though, so I'll probably go with a range of 1d4.
Obscurement: This spell summons a mist that the Druid can hide in.
Heat Metal: Given that Druids are forbidden from using metal armour and weapons, it's appropriate that they get a spell specifically designed to hose anyone who attacks them with those very things. It makes any metal get progressively hotter, causing damage, and maybe blistering a hand or baking someone's head until he gets dizzy and fall unconscious.
Warp Wood: This spell makes straight pieces of wood bend out of shape. The examples given are spears, arrows, and boats, but I would think that the most useful application is on dungeon doors.
3rd LEVEL: Pyrotechnics, Protection From Fire, Call Lightning, Cure Disease, Hold Animal, Plant Growth, Water Breathing, Neutralize Poison.
Pyrotechnics, Cure Disease, Plant Growth, Water Breathing and Neutralize Poison are all existing spells. Hold Animal is a variant on Hold Monster that only affects birds, mammals, reptiles and fish.
Protection From Fire: Really? Is this the first time this spell has appeared? I'm shocked. Anyway, when cast on a non-druid it confers the same abilities as a Ring of Fire Resistance. On a Druid, it confers complete resistance to fire, and that includes fire balls, meteor swarms, balrogs, and dragons. Very, very nice, even though the spell ends when one of those attacks hits it.
Call Lightning: This spell summons a lightning bolt that deals 8d6 damage, with an extra damage die per level of the Druid. That sounds awesome, but the spell can only be used outside during a storm, and you can only summon one bolt every 10 minutes. But, combine it with the 6th level Weather Summoning, and you've got yourself a nasty spell.
4th LEVEL: Produce Fire, Protection From Lightning, Speak With Plants, Plant Door, Insect Plague, Control Temperature 10' radius, Cure Serious Wounds, Animal Summoning I, Hallucinatory Forest, Dispel Magic
Speak With Plants, Insect Plague, Cure Serious Wounds, Animal Summoning I and Dispel Magic are all existing spells. Animal Summoning I was a Cleric spell called Conjure Animals. Also, Protection From Lightning is much the same as Protection From Fire.
Produce Fire: A version of Produce Flame with a much larger area. It can also be used to extinguish a fire, so that's useful.
Plant Door: The use of this spell is a little hazy. It allows the Druid to create a door in dense plant growth or a tree trunk, and only other Druids or a dryad can pass through. But where does the door lead? Is it anywhere within a 100' radius? That seems the likely option, but it needs a little clarification.
Control Temperatures, 10' radius: This spell can raise or lower temperatures by 50 degrees (Fahrenheit, I assume). It needs a bit of mistletoe, which is the standard Druid holy symbol.
Hallucinatory Forest: This spell makes the target believe it is in a forest, though it doesn't work on other druids, magical forest creatures, or ents. I'm having some trouble thinking of uses for this, but those are some of the best spells I think. I enjoy it when the players take something like this and turn it against me.
Tomorrow: I'll finish up the Druid spells.
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