I've been conseptualizing a wizard for a while now and I wanted to get some suggestions. It's always bugged me that the wizard learns 3 spells that they can use over and over, but it's as though those are the only three spells he ever learns to use over and over. I always thought of a wizard going to a mighty college and learning dozens of spells that are so simple that he can cast them over and over again.
Then I realized, it was mostly a matter of fluff! Scorching Burst could be anything from a tiny volcano to a hurled 'fire-grenade' to a summoned dragonbreath.
So, my concept to neatly learn 'dozens of spells' is to change their flavor with each casting (or change their flavor often) to the point where he seems to be using an nigh infinite number of spells when in reality, it's just his normal 3. I'll be using a human for this, because it allows me an additional at will which further increases my capacity to go nuts. So, here are some spells I intend to use (and what I intend to tell people if they ask). Due to the brain storming process, I'll probably come up with some derivatives for other spells that I shant use.
Main Spell: Magic Missile [indent]Derivative Spells [indent]-Bolt of Force. "This is the sort of thing you only use in a practice situation. Generally it isn't practical to try and form the force into a single bolt in the heat of battle" -Swiping Ghostly Paw. "Well, apparently a bear died here once but hasn't moved on. I just borrowed part of it's spirit for a moment." -Thrown Arrow Quickly Enchanted. "I had one on me and I had to do something!" -Impact with no Visual Effects. "Yes, that's a sneaky one. You never see it coming." -Screaming Red Sphere. "I gave my anger a shape and turned it on him." -Squeezing Magical Hand. "It's a basic version of Bigby's, you learn it early on for kitchen work."[/indent] (Tony Vargas) [INDENT]-Mordenkainen's Dagger: "Mordenkainen's sword is a powerful spell a skilled wizard can maintain for some time with intense concetration, I was lucky to hold my version together long enough to hit him." -Essoteric Projectile: You hold up a tiny bead, like a ballbearing, and let it go, it streaks towards /and through/ the target. "There is an obscure theory that we are actually on the surface of a spinning sphere, the preceding experiment works by cancelling the momentem of a small object relative to that sphere, the target actually ran into the now stationary bead with the force of the entire world's motion behind him."[/INDENT] (Chiba Monkey) [INDENT]-Draws an Arrowless Bow and Fires: "This is much more elegant than using crude point on a wooden stick, don't you think. Magic is so very refined."[/INDENT] (Vaalingrade Ashland) [INDENT]-Heart Grasp: "I reached in and grasped his heart with a spectral hand. I can't maintain it long enough to stop the heart, but it'll certainly give him some trouble."[/INDENT] (Mechalibur) [INDENT]-Summoned Object falls from the Sky. "That'll leave a mark" -Laser . "The best part about it is that it leaves a nasty looking hole in their armor"[/INDENT] (Reg06) Edits have come to pass [INDENT]-Magical Weapon Swinging Hand- "Perhaps my peers will now see that mage hand isn't so useless. Oh, and here's your weapon back." [Only when adjacent to weapon wielding ally]. -Invisible Obstacle- "Watch out! Ah, dear, he didn't see the invisible wall. Quite a shame." [Only against oncoming enemies] -Falling Branch. "My Utility Spells Professor always stressed creativity." [Only against enemies standing under a tree][/INDENT] (Lord Tirian) [INDENT]-Hair to Needles. "It's surprisingly painful if you just transmute some hair into iron - they have the perfect shape and stick in your skin already!" -Voodoo Stab. "You'd be surprised how many people look like this little doll!"[/INDENT] (Propane) [INDENT]-Vengeful Eye: Your left/right eye was lost years ago but your memory brings it forth, and out, to seek your enemies. -Melf's Minute Meteor: In one hand, you summon a small firey rock that you magically hurl; unfortunately the movement puts out the fire. -Tanchula's Failing: You bring forth the failed spell of Tanchula, which in a brilliant display of flame and ice, fails miserably.[/INDENT] [/indent] Main Spell: Cloud of Daggers [indent]Derivative Spells [INDENT]-Field of Multiple Immobile Particles. "When they run in they impale themselves on the immobile bits. It's even worse for those that are already there." -Vaporous Cloud of Insects. "All you have to do is conjure the proper scent and it will call these hornets from the astral sea." -Translucent Whirlwind. "It's really just a variant of a cleaning cantrip. I had to master that before I could learn any wind spells." -Animated Bow and Arrow. "We used to have archery competitions with this spell but I fear it's range is severely reduced without more preparation. -Explosive Rune Floating Midair. "Don't touch it, it'll give you a nasty blow."[/INDENT] (Lord Tirian) [INDENT]-Animate Pebbles. "Funny, that many pebbles actually have pointy edges, no?" -Spiked Ground. "This spell was just used to shape the ground into simple sculptures. Luckily, spikes are a pretty simple shape."[/INDENT] (Reg06) [INDENT]-Destroy Object and Summon Tornado. "I don't know if blending spells is all that safe."[/INDENT] [/indent] Main Spell: Scorching Burst [indent]Derivative Spells [INDENT]-Lobbed Fireball. "Thats the precursor to the Fireball spell. It's not as strong, but it's pretty simple to pull off." -Flames that Spurt Up from the Ground. "I use that spell to light our campfire, although I might have put a little more energy into it that time." -Summoning a Fiery Dragon. "He's Angrax, the fire wyrm. He's always outraged when you summon him, so I make sure he's pointed away from me." -Small Upwelling of Magma. "I've heard that greater wizards can make a bigger volcano, I'd love to see it some day." -Heat Wave. "Weather control spells aren't supposed to be taught to apprentices, but the headmaster liked long naps." -Bright Firework goes off. "Not what I meant to do, but damned if I won't remember how I did it!" -Inflammable Gas Cloud. "I moved a cloud of bog gas into that area and ignited it. See, swamps aren't all bad." [Only near bogs/swamps].[/INDENT] (FitzNighteyes) [INDENT]-Elemental Portal. "The way to the Elemental Chaos was thin, and I opened a small gate into a river of flame." -Philosopher's Spark. "All I had to do was flood the area with Phologiston and then give it a tiny spark." -Flames from Heaven. "The rain was coming down anyway, I just transmuted an area of it from water to fire."[/INDENT] (Reg06) Mild edits have come to pass. [INDENT]-Icey Magnifying Glass- "My Professor of Frost was annoyed as all get up when I learned to do this. Heh." [Only usable at midday in moist climates.] -Hot Pepper Lugi- "Tomorrow, this'll hurt me just as much as it does you. Trust me." [Only with hot foods on hand][/INDENT] (Lord Tirian) [INDENT]-Heat Dump. "Originally, this was just a spell to cool things down. The inventor just never found a place where he could put the excess heat. I think I just found one..." -Ricocheting Flame. "Back in the academy, people laughed at me, because I had so much fun moving small flames around instead of blowing things up. Until I did this!"[/INDENT] (Mechalibur) [INDENT]-Expanding Fire Halo. "By feeding the flames with magic, they eventually grow large enough to use the enemy as fuel."[/INDENT] [/indent] Main Spell: Thunderwave [indent]Derivative Spells [INDENT]-Very Loud Clap. "Once we learned to throw our voices they taught us how to throw our claps. I think this one is more useful than the voice thing though." -Powerful Drum Beat. "Every student learns how to summon the cannon drum. It's in pretty high demand though, so we were lucky." -Briefly Summoned Thunderbird. "They ride the front of thunderstorms. If you can tempt one to appear their shriek is like shakes men's bones.[/INDENT] (Lord Ventnor), liberties have been taken. [INDENT]-Banshees: "A guest-speaker gave an academy wide introduction to necromancy involving banshees. He was pretty creepy, but the magic works." -Magic-Empowered Snap-Kick: "It's a small mixed chronomancy and transmutation spell. I made my leg wobbley like a whip and snapped it back and forth a couple times in the same second. The first time I tried it all I managed was a wobbley leg. Haha!"[/INDENT] (Tony Vargas) [INDENT]-Earthshock: "The earth is actually unquiet, there are hundreds of small tremors every day, I just focused the local tectonic vibrations." -Staff of Offense: You rap your staff firmly against the ground and waves of thunder radiate forward from the impact. -Repulsion: "By setting up a diametrically opposed resonance between my personal humors and those of my assailaints, I force them away from me." -Word of Power: "That was but a single word in the language of creation - I dare speak no more than that at a time." -The Lesser Forceful Hand: "Bigby would be ashamed of such a shallow immitation of his mighty spells, but it was efficacious enough in this instance." -Invocation of Inviobility: "Get your paws off me you damn dirty kobolds!" Use thunderwave to escape a grab by casting a spell that makes maintaining physical contact with you impossible. -Tail of the Dragon: "Dragons sweep away attackers who get too close with thier mighty tails. That was a convincing facsimile - based on my own painful experience." -The 3rd Abjuration of the Sphere: "A basic defense invoking the power of the orb implement - but one satisfyingly hard on those defended against." -Expanding Shield: When you use Shield as an immediate interrupt, follow up with Thunderwave. "Since I had already invoked a shield of force, I merely ommitted an aspect of the containment formula when I dismissed it, expending it's power in a burst away from me."[/INDENT] (Reg06) Edits have come to pass [INDENT]-Titan's Shout. "I only got as far as the vocal chords in Transmutation class, so I worked really hard on it." -Conjure Primordial Thunder. "I summoned sky and storm from the elemental chaos. Of course the universe righted itself again, but it did what I pretty much expected." [/INDENT] (Lord Tirian) [INDENT]-Evaporated Earth. "I just transmuted the rubble below them into air. Things occupy a much greater volume if you turn them into a gas!" -Momentum Release. "My implement stores part of the force I use whenever I move it. Now, I just released it all at once!" [Possibly a copyright violation. (Shhh)][/INDENT] [/indent] Main Spell: Ray of Frost [indent]Derivative Spells [INDENT]-Incorporeal Undead Grasp their Legs. "It's not technically evil because they were already undead, you see? They'll just go right back where they came from. Everything has a purpose and all that." -Frigid Wind. "That was from 'Introduction to anti-Thermal Processes and Micro-Weather Management'. The rest of seemed boring so I never followed it up."[/INDENT] (Chiba Monkey) [INDENT]-Frozen Leg Seeking Sickles: "I was aiming for his head." -Minor Icy Terrain: "Our Professor of Frost caught a cold before he finished teaching us Icy Terrain, this is all I ever learned of it." -Ice Encased Knees: "A failed academy bet that I could 'Make clothing out of anything'. It was humbling at the time but if only they could see me now."[/INDENT] (Horseshoe Hermit) Edits have occured [INDENT]-Snowball: "I know it seems harmless enough. But in the heart of the snowball is a spell to magnify it's chill ten fold." [Only usable near snow] -Personal Squall: "Our Professor of Frost and Professor of Weather taught a joint class on using northern winds for self defense. This is a personal snowstorm." -Icy Plaster: "It's tough not to hobble with snow frozen stuck to the joints." -Freeze-dry: "Wizards wizen others before either's time. The cold thickens the water in his veins, but if he dies, at least it will preserve his corpse a little longer."[/INDENT] (Mechalibur) [INDENT]-A Dozen Flying Icy Needles "Why fire one blast of ice when I can fire a dozen small ones?"[/INDENT] (Reg06) Edits have come to pass [INDENT]-Bigby's Icy and Entangling Grasp "I don't know what Bigby would think of that, but I hope he'd be proud."[/INDENT]Illusory Ambush (Lord Tirian) [INDENT]-Steal Warm Feet. "I had cold feet, so I just stole his warmth. It's so inefficient over the distance though, so I needed to extract much more heat than my feet actually need." -Freeze Mud. "Well, their feet were in the mud already. I just had to cool it down to harden it!" [Only in mud and other soft ground][/INDENT] [/indent] Main Spell: Illusory Ambush [indent]Derivative Spells [INDENT]-Unkind Revelation: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" -Granted Moment of Omnipresence: "For the briefest second I connected him unimpared to the universe as a whole. Naturally the human mind isn't made to handle such an influx." -Minor Dominate Other: "It isn't complete control I grant you, but you have to crawl before you can walk, so on and so forth." -Dizzy Spell: "After 'Basic Physical Manipulation' toying with someone's sense of balance can become very easy." -Confusing Illusion: "To prove that your senses can't really be trusted, the professor made a toad look like our mothers for a brief moment. I paid very careful attention to that lesson."[/INDENT] (Reg06) [INDENT]-Channel Hangover "I've been with the Dwarves of Khazak Dorn all night, and I've been meaning to unload this somewhere." [Only after heavy drinking][/INDENT] [/indent]
So, essentially, whenever I cast a spell I'll claim it's a different spell and describe it as any one of these Derivative spells. Of course, I'll let the DM know before hand.
What I want, is more ideas. I imagine I'll burn through different spells pretty quickly, even with repititions. Situational ones (in a forest, when adjacent to a fighter, only during midday) would be great.
-Elemental Portal. "The way to the Elemental Chaos was thin, and I opened a small gate into a river of flame." -Philosopher's Spark "All I had to do was flood the area with Phologiston and then give it a tiny spark." -Flames from Heaven. "The rain was coming down anyway, I just transmuted an area of it from water to fire."
Mordenkainen's Dagger: "Mordenkainen's sword is a powerful spell a skilled wizard can maintain for some time with intense concetration, I was lucky to hold my version together long enough to hit him." Essoteric Projectile: You hold up a tiny bead, like a ballbearing, and let it go, it streaks towards /and through/ the target. "There is an obscure theory that we are actually on the surface of a spinning sphere, the preceding experiment works by cancelling the momentem of a small object relative to that sphere, the target actually ran into the now stationary bead with the force of the entire world's motion behind him. Only works if you're perfectly aligned east-west, of course." Eldritch Blast: "Hurling unformed mana like that is really more the realm of those unstuddied warlocks, but I was reacting out of instinct - I hope I can count on your discretion at the next symposium." Fey Arrow: You step 'sideways,' and are instantly replaced by a warrior seemingly made of mist and magic; he levels a bow at your enemy and loses an arrow, before it has even struck, you are back. "The Feywild really is most disconcerting for a mortal. I don't think I'll be trading places like that again anytime soon." Pointing the Wand: "The wand is the implement of offensive magic, with the propper act of will, merely pointing at an advesary can be deadly."
Or, since you don't have many for thunderwave:
Earthshock: "The earth is actually unquiet, there are hundreds of small tremors every day, I just focused the local tectonic vibrations." Staff of Offense: You rap your staff firmly against the ground and waves of thunder radiate forward from the impact. Repulsion: "By setting up a diametrically opposed resonance between my personal humors and those of my assailaints, I force them away from me." Word of Power: "That was but a single word in the language of creation - I dare speak no more than that at a time." The Lesser Forceful Hand: "Bigby would be ashamed of such a shallow immitation of his mighty spells, but it was efficacious enough in this instance." Invocation of Inviobility: "Get your paws off me you damn dirty kobolds!" Use thunderwave to escape a grab by casting a spell that makes maintaining physical contact with you impossible. Tail of the Dragon: "Dragons sweep away attackers who get too close with thier mighty tails. That was a convincing facsimile - based on my own painful experience." The 3rd Abjuration of the Sphere: "A basic defense invoking the power of the orb implement - but one satisfyingly hard on those defended against." Expanding Shield: When you use Shield as an immediate interrupt, follow up with Thunderwave. "Since I had already invoked a shield of force, I merely ommitted an aspect of the containment formula when I dismissed it, expending it's power in a burst away from me."
Awesome! This makes me think of Draego... Speaking of which...
Thunderwave Banshees: A necromancer taught me this one. Kind of a creepy guy, but getting ghosts to yell at your enemies is effective enough. Magic-Empowered Snap-Kick (vs. a Single Foe): The buff only lasts for a moment, but it works when I want someone to stay away from me.
Essoteric Projectile: You hold up a tiny bead, like a ballbearing, and let it go, it streaks towards /and through/ the target. "There is an obscure theory that we are actually on the surface of a spinning sphere, the preceding experiment works by cancelling the momentem of a small object relative to that sphere, the target actually ran into the now stationary bead with the force of the entire world's motion behind him."
Also of note:
There is an obscure theory that we are actually on the surface of a large disc carried on the backs of four elephants who are in turn standing on the back of a giant turtle floating through the stars, the preceding experiment...
Lord_Ventnor]Awesome! This makes me think of Draego... Speaking of which...
Yeah, I remember Draego. Writing up some suggestions for that poster's character gave me the idea for this 'dozens of spells' wrote:
Awesome! This makes me think of Draego... Speaking of which...[/quote] Yeah, I remember Draego. Writing up some suggestions for that poster's character gave me the idea for this 'dozens of spells' wizard.
Essoteric Projectile: You hold up a tiny bead, like a ballbearing, and let it go, it streaks towards /and through/ the target. "There is an obscure theory that we are actually on the surface of a spinning sphere, the preceding experiment works by cancelling the momentem of a small object relative to that sphere, the target actually ran into the now stationary bead with the force of the entire world's motion behind him."
Sshhhh, your DM might want you to use Immovable rods for that kind of thing.
This fits into an idea I'd heard floating around in 3rd, of someone coming from a mage- centric society, where different flavours of Magic Missile were pretty much collected & traded like bubble-gum cards: "Dude, I'll give you two Bear Claw Swipess and a Gnomish Glittering Gembomb for your Force Raven of Power"
I also love the idea of spells being lower powered version of sensible spells, the sort of things apprentices learn by heart before moving on to better spells. Or possibly as a wizard trying to lob a fireball at a horde of enemies and failing miserably...
It's fun that there are so many variations on Fireball in 4e. Fireball, Scorching Burst, Combust, etc. You could have a slightly comic 'fire mage' who's always shouting "FIREBALL!!!" but casting Scorching Burst. As he gets more experienced, he gets more powerful versions off more often - sometimes, when he didn't mean to (IC - the player, of course decides which spell he's actually using).
