Three Spell Salad: Levels 2 and 3

In our quest to strip down the classic spells of D&D to the essentials, we have a new contributor, JD Jarvis, whose picks don't change our 1st level selection smuch but get added in to the next 2 levels.

Invisibility is the clear winner for super wizards everywhere, with 4 out of 6 desert-island spellbook compilers choosing it. Behind it we have a pack of four, each tied at two picks: Web, Levitate, Mirror Image and ESP.

Mirror Image is cool ... but it serves much the same function as Invisibility. Some people would give ESP the heave-ho on the grounds it's a plot spoiler. I just nerf it into Detect Thoughts, and if the being fails a Mind save the caster gets to sample one thought from its stream of consciousness. Levitate and Web, together with Flaming Sphere, are the more physical spell effects that would anchor the Day list if I picked three "Day" (straightforward) and three "Night" (arcane) spells. But with Feather Fall being expanded to Weightlessness, Levitate is too much like that and too much like a certain spell coming up next level. So the final three are:

ESP: Overnight recovery at (caster) level 3
Invisibility: Overnight recovery at level 3
Web: Overnight recovery at level 3

By the way, I'd probably pick Knock/Wizard Lock for the third of the level 2 Night list.

I'm not sure of the wisdom of allowing turn recovery for some of these, but the levels in question are high enough that the "Basic" rules don't have to worry about that.

The level 3 spells ... well, Fireball and Dispel Magic are clearly the A-listers, with all 5 contributors choosing them.  This is where the limitations begin to grate; Fly gets 2 votes but there are some other strong contenders, like Haste, Clairvoyance and Monster Summoning. The Day list would really start to shine here with Fireball, Fly and Haste, while for Night effects, the ability to summon a stronger monster, dispel magic and use clairvoyance would have to do. For now, let's go with:

Fireball: Overnight recovery at level 5
Dispel Magic: Turn recovery at level 5 (with no re-tries to dispel any one effect)
Fly: Overnight recovery at level 5

Next: up some comments on how this approach would fit into a class system, plus spell cards!

Brown Magic Supplement

Turns out Brown Magic really needs 4 spells/level at the high levels.

So here are the 4th spells for the first three levels.

All three of these, in my view, really add to the problem solving and creative use potential of this magic school.

Level 1

4	Heat Metal	Brown	30’	6 rounds	None
Metal weapon does 1d3 extra damage; metal armor burns wearer in 1 round for 1d3 damage/round; metal held objects dropped

Level 2

4	Command Wood	Brown	30’	Perm.	None
A non-magical section or piece of wood up to 3’ square is bent or reshaped

Level 3

4	Aid of the Waters	Brown	90’	3 hours	None
Water in 10’ radius rises or recedes up to 10’, supports walking, or becomes breathable

Brown Magic: Levels 1-3

"A strange race of  people ... the Druids ..." Although some of these spells also show up in the clerical lists. The main theme is somewhat different from the other color schools - it is the realm of what is affected, rather than functionally what is done, that unites these spells. This sets up Brown magic to be the primal, original, shamanic form of nature magic, and represent the control over natural forces that's present in many conceptions of magic - from Merlin's ravens to Elisha's bears.

As with sacred magic, the Brown spells are only a core for any possible druid, nature cleric, or hedge witch character class. Certainly there are forms of healing, protective, charm, attack, etc. magic that fit very well into those classes.

Yes, Brown's better in the outdoors ... but I've tried to include more spells of general utility and jettison some of the more notorious clunkers (um ... Shillelagh anyone?)

LEVEL 1

               Name                                Color           Range      Duration       Save

1	Animal Friends	Brown	30’	1 hr	Will (Wis)
Calms 1d6 HD of animals, +1 HD/ level; keep 1 with HD <= level as pet
2	Aid of the Earth	Brown	90’	3 min	None
Plants and earth hide or halve move along 100’ x 10’ trail
3	Speak with Animal	Brown	30’	3 min	None
Hold conversation with normal animal

LEVEL 2

1	Aid of the Meek	Brown	90’	12 hrs	None
Up to 6 tiny animals appear in 1-3 rounds and act as familiars
2	Aid of the Trees	Brown	0	1 hr	None
Caster can merge with a tree, remaining aware, and talk with it
3	Call Animals	Brown	30’	1 hr	None
4 HD of friendly animals appear in 1d20 rounds and follow commands

LEVEL 3

1	Aid of the Sky	Brown	90’	Special	Speed (Dex)
Only open sky, 1 minute to summon clouds if needed, then 1 bolt / round for rounds = caster level strikes for 6d6 damage, save for half
2	Aid of the Stones	Brown	30’	30 min	None
Rock underfoot ensnares or damages (1d4/round of travelling) beings travelling on foot over it in 30’ square area
3	Insect Cloud	Brown	90’	30 min	Body (Con)
Stinging insects make all in 30’ square area take 2 hp damage/round, -2 to hit rolls and no casting, save or flee.

Sacred Magic: Level 3 Spell List

Okay. After a sojourn in Spain, and being laid low by a nasty bug, I'm back on the case. In actual play news, rumor has it a couple of local friends are looking to get into some roleplaying, including a girlfriend who has never played before and is rarin to go. Stay tuned...

Some notes:

Animate Dead spells are always hard to balance. The 4 zombie/8 skeleton max per level is a decent compromise, letting lair-sized armies accumulate without being ridiculously strong.

There ain't no disease rules like Runequest disease rules, attacking stats directly (Yet another reason why 3E D&D can also be subtitled "Runequest Wins!").

The full writeup will have a table of suggested curses. Things like "Misses the first time in combat against any opponent," the old reliable charisma busters, "takes double damage from swords/animals/fire/etc." At this level, the black magic diseases and curses are nasty, more about vengeful NPCs than combat effective PC's. 

Protection from Disease: Your friend under carousing rules ...

1	Animate Dead	Black	30'	None	None
Animates 2 skeletons or 1 zombie per caster level. Caster may control undead equal to two castings of the spell, and have undead equal to four castings.
2	Hallow Dead	White	30'	None	Monster
Protects 1 corpse per caster level from animation or conversion to undead, and does 1d6 damage/caster level to all undead in 30' radius, save for half.
3	Curse	Black	30'	None	Mind (Wis)
Target either does 1 worse on all his or her rolls until dispelled, or some other curse approved by GM (not more powerful than other 3rd level Black magic)
4	Remove Curse	Gold	0'	None	None
Removes a supernatural curse from target
5	Fortune	White	0'	1 day	None
Target is protected from supernatural curses, does 1 better on all his or her rolls, and gets 1 reroll this day (as Prayer)
6	Protection from Disease	White	0'	1 day	None
Target is immune from contracting new diseases
7	Cure Disease	Gold	0'	None	None
Target is healed of one disease
8	Cause Disease	Black	30'	Until cured	Body (Con)
Target contracts a disease (choose random ability, lose 1d6 points/day if save fails, until dead at 0; 3 saves in a row heal disease)
9	Circle of Protection	White/[Black]	10'	1 hour	None
Unholy [holy] beings cannot cross 10' radius circle
10	Cure Serious Wounds	Gold	0'	None	None
Heals 4d8+4 damage
11	Protection from Serious Wounds	White	0'	30 min	None
Gives 4d8+4 temporary hit points (unholy sources do half damage against them)
12	Cause Serious Wounds	Black	30'	None	Body (Con)
Harms for 4d8+4 damage

Level 3 Magic Spells

Last d20 table. I'm particularly fond of the reversal of Water Breathing, which formerly had an Aquaman-like niche in the spell library.

1	Blink	Silver	0	3 rd	None
Caster teleports through air up to 90’ each round
2	Breathe/Choke	Yellow	30’	3 hrs	(Con)
Allows up to 6 people to breathe without air, or choke for 3 rounds if fail save, unable to act
3	Summon Lesser Being	Silver	30’	18 hours	None
As Summon Monster, but 1 3rd level or 2x 2nd level monsters.
4	Complete Illusion	Purple	30’	30 min	None
Creates full scene for all senses in 20’ cube
5	Damage Ward	Blue	30’	3 min	None
Absorbs 50% or 5hp of 1 damage type (sharp, impact, fire, etc.)
6	Dispel Magic	Gray	90’	None	None
Dispels most recent magic effect; 5% failure chance/caster level lower than dispelled effect’s caster
7	Fireball	Red	90’	None	(Dex)
All in 20’ radius take 6d6 damage, save for half
8	Fly	Yellow	30’	30 min	None
One being can fly at a move of 6
9	Gaseous Form	Yellow	30’	30 min	(Con)
Turns target being into a moving gas, only 3 rounds if unwilling
10	Group Invisibility	Purple	30’	3 hr	None
All beings in 10’ square affected by Invisibility spell
11	Haste/Slow	Yellow	30’	3 min	(Con)
Double or halve move and attacks for one being
12	Hold Persons	Green	90’	3 min	(Wis)
Up to 3 human-like beings are paralyzed
13	Lightning Bolt	Red	30’	None	(Dex)
All in 10’ x 60’ bolt area take 6d6 damage, save for half
14	Detect Emotions	Orange	30’	3 min	(Wis)
Detect presence of emotions in beings; save or reveal specific emotion
15	Speak with Object	Orange	30’	3 min	None
Holds a conversation with the spirit of an inanimate object
16	Stinking Cloud	Blue	90’	10 rd	(Con)
Breathing beings in four 10’ cubes choke 3 rounds (1 if save), then flee cloud
17	Suggestion	Green	30’	3 hr	(Wis)
Intelligent creature accepts one belief not directly harmful to self
18	Magic Circle	Silver	0	1 hr+	None
Planar and magic beings may not cross 5’ radius circle; lasts +1 hr/minute of preparation
19	Create Material	Blue	30'	Perm.	(Dex)
Creates 3’ cube of any common raw material, including food; acid does 4d6 direct hit and 2d6 splash damage within 10', solids as Create Rock, save to dodge.
20	Wandering Senses	Orange	90’	3 min	None
Sends one of caster’s senses wandering within the spell’s range.