The Light Spell

[otiv]

I have a question on the light spell. It radiates light but does it also radiate warmth? Can one cast continual light on an object to use it as a heating element?

[flightcommander]

I'd say no — but there's no reason there couldn't be "Heat" and "Continual Heat" spells, if a Magic-User does a bit of research

[tkdco2]

My first reaction would be no, since it was a magical light. I vaguely remember reading in Dragon magazine that an object with a continual light would eventually be consumed by the spell. That may be because it radiates some form of heat, but it can just be the effects of the enchantment itself. I'm more inclined towards the latter explanation.

[otiv]

Dec 2, 2014 22:08:25 GMT -6 flightcommander said:

I'd say no — but there's no reason there couldn't be "Heat" and "Continual Heat" spells, if a Magic-User does a bit of research

Makes sense to me.
Do you think that steps on the Cleric's toes too much what with Resist Cold from Moldvay Basic and all?

[krusader74]

Dec 2, 2014 22:08:25 GMT -6 flightcommander said:

I'd say no — but there's no reason there couldn't be "Heat" and "Continual Heat" spells, if a Magic-User does a bit of research

I totally agree! "Light" usually refers to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with a wavelength of 400-700 nano-metres. But I'd rule that a MU who does enough magical research could alter this wavelength. When EMR has a wavelength between 1 meter and 1/1,000 meter, it's called microwave radiation. And if you have a microwave oven, then you know this kind of EMR interacts with water and other kinds of matter to produce heat.

I'd go even further: A 1st level MU with a Light spell could do magical research to alter the wavelength to the UV band in order to produce burns. This would be like a magic missile (not in the 3LBBs, but on page 22 of Supplement I) doing 1d6+1 HP damage.

The MU could also figure out how to create X-rays and gamma-rays. These will eventually kill a target, but slowly, giving the victim radiation poisoning that will permanently drain 1 point of Constitution per month, beginning immediately. Initially and each month thereafter the victim can make a saving throw against "Death Ray or Poison" to avoid the loss of Con. But he requires a Neutralize Poison (4th level Cleric spell) to end the affliction. Furthermore, effects are cumulative, so a victim hit with 3 gamma-ray blasts will lose 3 points of Con per month.

WRT to the magical research required, refer to Vol. 1/MM page 34 and note that "Light" (described on page 23) is a 1st level MU spell:

Investment for 1st level is 2,000 Gold Pieces... The time required is one week per spell level. For every amount equal to the basic investment spent there is a 20% chance of success, cumulative. An investment of 10,000 Gold Pieces in order to develop new 1st level spell, for example, has a 100% chance of success after one game week.

Moreover, the MU's light-based heat spell doesn't need to "step on the toes" of Moldvay's Cleric's spell. The MU's spell transfers heat via radiation. Maybe the Cleric's spell works by conducting heat from a parallel universe? Or maybe it works by robbing neighboring objects of heat and transferring them to the target area by convection? Just let loose your imagination!

[makofan]

I do not have it create warmth

[otiv]

Dec 3, 2014 2:19:37 GMT -6 krusader74 said:

Dec 2, 2014 22:08:25 GMT -6 flightcommander said:

I'd say no — but there's no reason there couldn't be "Heat" and "Continual Heat" spells, if a Magic-User does a bit of research

I totally agree! "Light" usually refers to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with a wavelength of 400-700 nano-metres. But I'd rule that a MU who does enough magical research could alter this wavelength. When EMR has a wavelength between 1 meter and 1/1,000 meter, it's called microwave radiation. And if you have a microwave oven, then you know this kind of EMR interacts with water and other kinds of matter to produce heat.

I'd go even further: A 1st level MU with a Light spell could do magical research to alter the wavelength to the UV band in order to produce burns. This would be like a magic missile (not in the 3LBBs, but on page 22 of Supplement I) doing 1d6+1 HP damage.

The MU could also figure out how to create X-rays and gamma-rays. These will eventually kill a target, but slowly, giving the victim radiation poisoning that will permanently drain 1 point of Constitution per month, beginning immediately. Initially and each month thereafter the victim can make a saving throw against "Death Ray or Poison" to avoid the loss of Con. But he requires a Neutralize Poison (4th level Cleric spell) to end the affliction. Furthermore, effects are cumulative, so a victim hit with 3 gamma-ray blasts will lose 3 points of Con per month.

That's pretty cool!

Now I'm thinking about what the reversals might do.

The reversal of gamma-ray could function as a radiation sponge.

[dizzysaxophone]

Dec 2, 2014 22:08:25 GMT -6 flightcommander said:

I'd say no — but there's no reason there couldn't be "Heat" and "Continual Heat" spells, if a Magic-User does a bit of research

This is exactly how I handle it.

[krusader74]

Dec 3, 2014 10:10:37 GMT -6 otiv said:

Now I'm thinking about what the reversals might do.

The reversal of gamma-ray could function as a radiation sponge.

Awesome idea!!! Two variants leap to mind...

Passive shielding. A spell that temporarily (1 round) transmutes flesh to lead. This could have applications outside radiation protection: Imagine you're about to be punched by an enemy, but you transmute to lead, giving your opponent a Boxer's fracture.

Active shielding. A spell that uses a magnetic field to slow down or deflect radiation. Check out this short article from Space Safety magazine: Electrostatic Active Space Radiation Shielding. This is something NASA is currently researching.

[scottenkainen]

I recall that ruling that Continual Light slowly destroyed what it was cast on, but thought that came from 2nd ed. AD&D. Can anyone confirm or deny that?

~Scott "-enkainen" Casper

[flightcommander]

I don't know where that came from — a Dragon magazine column perhaps? — but I do like the idea that "continual" doesn't necessarily mean "permanent, forever".

[tkdco2]

IIRC it was from Dragon Magazine sometime during the 2e era.

[krusader74]

Dec 3, 2014 18:54:34 GMT -6 scottenkainen said:

I recall that ruling that Continual Light slowly destroyed what it was cast on, but thought that came from 2nd ed. AD&D. Can anyone confirm or deny that?

~Scott "-enkainen" Casper

This quote is from the second edition AD&D PHB (TSR 2159 (C) 1989), p. 181

Continual Light (Wz 2)
...
This spell eventually consumes the material it is cast upon but the process takes far longer than the time in the typical campaign. Extremely hard and expensive materials can last hundreds or even thousands of years.

[krusader74]

Doing a back-of-the-envelope calculation... If the "magic" in the Continual Light spell were just advanced technology that converted the matter in an object to energy using the law E=m*c^2, and the spell were cast on a 1 gram object and turned it into the equivalent of a 60 Watt light bulb, then it would take 47,500 years for the spell to consume the object.

[Porphyre]

By the way,

Does anyone know when and how the Light spells began to be cast on objects (and I would add transportable objects)?
In the LBBs, it rather looks like some kind of area effect: it has a range , a radius.

The fact that there is a subtle difference between the MU and the cleric version seems to indicate that it was partially for strategic considerations ("not equal" versus "equal to full daylihgt" like in "when (goblins) are subjected to full daylight they subtract -1 from their attack and morale dice").

I always envisioned Continual light as a way to have an always lit throne room, or such, never as a way to have some endless battery flashlight. 

I suppose that Gandalf and his staff in Moria are to blame ... 

[coffee]

Dec 5, 2014 1:36:04 GMT -6 Porphyre said:

By the way,

Does anyone know when and how the Light spells began to be cast on objects (and I would add transportable objects)?
In the LBBs, it rather looks like some kind of area effect: it has a range , a radius.

The fact that there is a subtle difference between the MU and the cleric version seems to indicate that it was partially for strategic considerations ("not equal" versus "equal to full daylihgt" like in "when (goblins) are subjected to full daylight they subtract -1 from their attack and morale dice").

I always envisioned Continual light as a way to have an always lit throne room, or such, never as a way to have some endless battery flashlight. 

I suppose that Gandalf and his staff in Moria are to blame ... 

I know Jim Ward mentioned it in his "Notes from a Semi-Successful D&D Player", in The Dragon #13.