Hammers Arcanum
Hello everyone and welcome to another awesome edition of Obscure Arcana, where we bring you magnificent spells from only the obscurest and most arcane sources. Today wraps up Hammer Week at Necromancers of the Northwest, a celebration of all things hammers, and specifically the release of our newest book: The Ebon Vault: Unstoppable Hammers, which you could have for your very own for a very reasonable price, available right now.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about spells… and hammers. Looking at the core rules, you have, well, chaos hammer, which sadly has nothing to do with hammers and I think that’s a drag. So, here are some new hammers, sure to delight.
Hammer Drop
With a simple prayer and the toss of a workman’s hammer, you call down a strike from the heavens to smite the enemies of decent hardworking folks. A great golden hammer falls from the sky, automatically hitting the target and inflicting 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage for each point of Strength modifier you possess. If you have the artifice domain, it deals 2d6 points of bludgeoning damage for each point of Strength modifier you possess, instead. If you have ranks in one or more Craft skills which require a set of artisan’s tools to use, you may choose one when you cast this spell, and it deals an additional point of damage for each rank you have in that skill.
Damage from this spell is subject to any damage resistance that the target might possess, and is treated as a magical weapon for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. Hammer drop can only be cast outside beneath the open sky.
Hammer of Hate
You scream out in frustration, smashing the spell’s two material components together and watching as both crumble to nothingness, replaced by an obsidian war hammer that is enchanted to fulfill your hateful desires. This magic hammer functions as a bane warhammer with an enhancement bonus equal to 1/4 your caster level (to a maximum of +5 at 20th level). The hammer retains these properties only as long as it is in your hands, and in anyone else’s hands it functions as an ordinary warhammer. You choose the type of creature which the bane special ability applies to when you cast this spell. Additionally, if you have the hatred racial trait, the hammer deals an additional 2d6 points of damage against creatures for which you have hatred. Finally, if you possess the favored enemy class feature, all damage bonuses granted by that feature are doubled for purposes of attacks made with this hammer.
Hammer Toss
You call upon the spirit of the everyday man, and the workman’s game of tossing hammers becomes a deadly, magic-infused art. In your hands, hammers seem to weigh nothing at all. When you cast this spell, you are able to throw any hammer, regardless of its size and type. Using this ability to throw a hammer is a standard action. Any hammer thrown in this way has a range of 30 feet and deal damage as though they were wielded as a one-handed weapon. You may still throw throwing hammers and light hammers normally.
Further, as a full-round action you can throw a hammer and psychically guide it to strike the target. This functions identically to throwing the hammer as a standard action, except that the attack is made as a touch attack.
Heavy Hands
You transmute your hands, changing flesh to iron and reforming them into the shape of hammers. This allows you to make two primary slam attacks which deal 1d8 points of bludgeoning damage (if you are a Medium creature), and have a critical multiplier of x3. Additionally, you may use your caster level in place of your base attack bonus for all attacks made with these hammers. Finally, you may not cast spells with somatic components while under the effects of heavy hands.
Pedrival’s Disarming Hammer
Originally conceived by the bard Pedrival in his adolescence as a prank to be played on the older children who often threatened him, the young mage found this spell to be equally useful during his long, colorful, and bizarre adventuring career. Though for years many scholars found the spell too comical to print in their own books, the practical defensive applications spurred this slightly ridiculous spell to fame.
With a word of power and a wink of the eye, you can transmute any weapon you touch into a large yellow rubber hammer filled with air. This causes any attack made with the oversized weapon to suffer a -2 penalty on attack and damage rolls and to deal nonlethal bludgeoning damage, instead of its normal type of damage. The type of damage dice is identical to the sort used by the original weapon, as the overlarge hammer retains some similarities in size and lethality (for example, a transmuted dagger would still be a one-handed light weapon that deals 1d4 damage [for a Medium creature], and a transmuted greatsword would still be a two-handed weapon that deals 2d6 point of damage [for a Medium creature]). If the target’s wielder is unwilling, a melee touch attack is necessary to deliver the spell.
When you cast Pedrival’s disarming hammer, you may choose to sacrifice an additional prepared spell or spell slot of the same spell level. If you do, then the spell has a range of 30 feet, and you may make a ranged touch attack to touch the target, instead of a melee touch attack.