Unsafe Spells III
Quite some time ago, now, I wrote an article focusing on creating some spells that used an added chance of danger and backfire to make them feel more magical and less by-the-numbers. These spells allowed for more powerful effects than you could normally get at their spell level, but with a tradeoff that you could effectively “fail” the spell, potentially with disastrous results. I enjoyed these so much that I made a sequel, and, today, I find myself getting the itch to do it again.
Not all of the spells below have a chance of failure, per se, but all are “unsafe spells” in the sense that they can cause you to bite off more than you can chew, and the consequences of casting the spell can greatly outweigh the benefits of casting it, if they are used irresponsibly. Enjoy…and be careful.
BALM OF AGES
School conjuration (healing); Level alchemist 4, bard 4, cleric 4, druid 5, inquisitor 4, witch 5
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range touch
Target creature touched
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Will half (harmless), see text; Spell Resistance yes
You draw upon your own life force and vitality in order to power your healing. This functions as cure light wounds, except that it cures 6d8 points of damage + 2 per caster level (maximum +20). Additionally, for every 5 hit points healed in this way, you immediately age 1 year. If this aging causes you to change age categories, you gain all the penalties to physical ability scores associated with the new age category, but do not gain any of the bonuses to your mental ability scores until you have lived for the appropriate number of years to have entered that age category normally. If this aging causes you to exceed your maximum age, you die.
ERRATIC STRENGTH
School transmutation; Level alchemist 1, antipaladin 1, druid 1, paladin 1, sorcerer/wizard 1, summoner 1, witch 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a piece of moist clay)
Range touch
Target living creature touched
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw Fortitude negates; Spell Resistance yes
You cause the target’s muscles to ripple and surge, potentially granting him superhuman strength. This effect is very unstable, however, and can just as easily have the opposite effect, making the target weak and feeble. The target must succeed on a Constitution check (DC equal to erratic strength’s saving throw DC). If the Constitution check is successful, the target gains a +1 enhancement bonus to his Strength score. If the target fails the Constitution check, however, he gains a -1 penalty to his Strength score, instead. For the spell’s duration, at the beginning of each of the target’s turns, he must make a new Constitution check. A success increases the enhancement bonus by +1 (to a maximum bonus of +6), or reduces the penalty by 1, if the target is suffering a penalty from the spell, instead. A failure increases the penalty by 1 (to a maximum penalty of -6), or reduces the enhancement bonus by 1, if the target is gaining an enhancement bonus from the spell, instead. All bonuses and penalties granted by the spell end at the end of the spell’s duration.
TAKE AFFLICTION
School conjuration (healing); Level cleric 1, druid 1, inquisitor 1, paladin 1, ranger 1, witch 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range touch
Target living creature touched
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance yes (harmless)
You transfer a single curse, disease, or poison that is affecting the target away from him and onto yourself, freeing the target of the chosen affliction and exposing you to it. You choose which affliction that the target is suffering from is transferred to you. If you do not know what afflictions the target is suffering from, a random affliction is transferred to you, instead. You are not allowed an initial saving throw to resist the affliction, but if the affliction allows subsequent saving throws (like most diseases and poisons), you make those normally. If the affliction has a limited duration (like most poisons), that duration is not reset, and it only continues to affect you for as long as it would have continued to affect the spell’s target.