Spell Effects in the Dungeon

[cadriel]

I've done a couple of blog posts riffing on the idea of spells from Men & Magic and Greyhawk having been cast in the dungeon well in advance, creating various weird effects, tricks and traps.

The first post dealt with the Men & Magic spells: Spell Effects in the Dungeon
The second deals with Greyhawk spells: Spell Effects in the Dungeon, Greyhawk Style

I'm curious what different spells folks here have used to create interesting effects in their dungeons, or other ideas on spells cast in advance.

[Stormcrow]

I never felt limited to rationalizing weird effects according to spells on a list. Nobody has ever asked why a magical effect exists in the dungeon that their magic-user can't reproduce.

[geoffrey]

Mar 3, 2014 10:08:12 GMT -6 Stormcrow said:

Nobody has ever asked why a magical effect exists in the dungeon that their magic-user can't reproduce.

While my players did not ask about it, I have made some spells based upon magical effects found in modules. Here's one. A No-Prize to the person who recognizes the module and room which inspired it:


Jarred Animal
Level: 1
Range: touch
Duration: 5 years/level

This spell causes a natural animal (i. e., a beast that exists in the real world, as opposed to a fantastic monster) touched by the magician to become preserved in a magically appearing indestructible glass jar of clear, colorless liquid. The animal receives a saving throw. The maximum size of the animal depends on the level of the magician:

1st: up to the size of a rat
3rd: up to the size of a house cat
5th: up to the size of a wolf
7th: up to the size of a black bear
9th: up to the size of a tiger

The animal will stay in a state of unconscious suspended animation until someone opens its jar (or until the spell expires). The jar and liquid will immediately vanish, the animal will cry out (squawk, bark, roar, or whatever as appropriate), flee at full speed, and vanish mere seconds later.

[cadriel]

Mar 3, 2014 10:08:12 GMT -6 Stormcrow said:

I never felt limited to rationalizing weird effects according to spells on a list. Nobody has ever asked why a magical effect exists in the dungeon that their magic-user can't reproduce.

I guess I just look at things differently. I'm not saying that every weird effect in a dungeon has to be reproducible given the spell lists in OD&D, rather I'm looking to the OD&D spell lists for things that I can turn into interesting dungeon elements. It came about because I was thinking about the possibilities of NPCs as animals who had been polymorphed. Taking the exercise further, I found that there were a lot of things that are good fodder for dungeon oddities.

[Porphyre]

Mar 3, 2014 10:08:12 GMT -6 Stormcrow said:

I never felt limited to rationalizing weird effects according to spells on a list. Nobody has ever asked why a magical effect exists in the dungeon that their magic-user can't reproduce.

In OD&D that is also the case with items.
Web, Wish, for instance were magical properties of magical deveices before being spells.

[cadriel]

Mar 3, 2014 13:42:05 GMT -6 Porphyre said:

In OD&D that is also the case with items.
Web, Wish, for instance were magical properties of magical deveices before being spells.

That has nothing to do with the price of tea in China. This is about magical effects in dungeons. I think there are some cool ones using the OD&D and Greyhawk spell lists. If you have others based on items or totally independent of published material I'd rather hear about that rather than quibble about what was and wasn't included in the spells.

[Porphyre]

My apologises, then.
I misunderstood.

[aldarron]

Mar 3, 2014 10:19:33 GMT -6 geoffrey said:

Mar 3, 2014 10:08:12 GMT -6 Stormcrow said:

Nobody has ever asked why a magical effect exists in the dungeon that their magic-user can't reproduce.

While my players did not ask about it, I have made some spells based upon magical effects found in modules. Here's one. A No-Prize to the person who recognizes the module and room which inspired it:


Jarred Animal
Level: 1
Range: touch
Duration: 5 years/level

This spell causes a natural animal (i. e., a beast that exists in the real world, as opposed to a fantastic monster) touched by the magician to become preserved in a magically appearing indestructible glass jar of clear, colorless liquid. The animal receives a saving throw. The maximum size of the animal depends on the level of the magician:

1st: up to the size of a rat
3rd: up to the size of a house cat
5th: up to the size of a wolf
7th: up to the size of a black bear
9th: up to the size of a tiger

The animal will stay in a state of unconscious suspended animation until someone opens its jar (or until the spell expires). The jar and liquid will immediately vanish, the animal will cry out (squawk, bark, roar, or whatever as appropriate), flee at full speed, and vanish mere seconds later.

Somebody say B1. I've got a No-prize already. Yez. Itz very nize.

[blackbarn]

I have one dungeon room with a smaller side chamber from which the larger can be viewed through a window-like opening. In the side chamber is a lever. When pulled, anyone in the main room, alive or dead, is hit with the equivalent of a Reincarnation spell and transformed/resurrected accordingly. Could be useful or dangerous, depending on how clever the PCs are. It would work on monsters lured into the room, etc. Lots of fun potential.

[Red Baron]

Mar 7, 2014 13:36:28 GMT -6 blackbarn said:

I have one dungeon room with a smaller side chamber from which the larger can be viewed through a window-like opening. In the side chamber is a lever. When pulled, anyone in the main room, alive or dead, is hit with the equivalent of a Reincarnation spell and transformed/resurrected accordingly. Could be useful or dangerous, depending on how clever the PCs are. It would work on monsters lured into the room, etc. Lots of fun potential.

Is the room made of cardboard and labeled "transmogrifier"?

[Porphyre]

Small doors + Growth (as the potion) + Permanency.
There you have a party of giants cramped and trapped in a 10x10 feet room.