Creepy Crawly Casting
While personally I don’t mind bugs so much, for some people, they really give ‘em the creeps. It should come as a surprise, then, that there are no spells for vermin that revolve around their creepy natures. It is with great pride that we present this week’s new crop of spells with the aim of really making one’s skin crawl.
FORM OF FLIES
School transmutation; Level druid 8, shaman 8, sorcerer/wizard 8, witch 8
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, M (a pinch of fresh animal dung)
Rage personal
Target you
Duration 1 minute/level
You transform you body into hundreds of thousands of black flies, which retain a close humanoid form. While so transformed, your physical form is greatly altered, granting you immunity to critical hits and precision damage, immunity to weapon attacks, and the defensive abilities granted by swarm traits. You retain the ability to manipulate physical weapons and speak. You also gain all-around vision and cannot be flanked. You can contort and maneuver your form in such a way that you can fit through any opening a fly could fit through, though you retain a generally humanoid shape reminiscent of your original form. While in this form, you can cast spells normally. Though you maintain the ability to manipulate physical objects, including wearing armor and wielding weapons, your gear melds into you when you assume this form. A strong wind of at least 25 mph deals 2d6 points of damage to you each round you remain within it, as portions of your body continuously fly away. Additionally, you suffer twice as much damage from area effects.
INSECTILE ASPECT
School transmutation; Level alchemist 3, antipaladin 4, druid 4, magus 4, shaman 4, sorcerer/wizard 4, summoner 3, witch 4
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a crushed ant queen)
Range touch
Target creature touched
Duration 1 minute/level
Saving Throw Fortitude negates; Spell Resistance yes
With a touch, you transform the target, causing him to take on insect-like features. He grows a hard carapace, develops large, ruby-red compound eyes, sprouts thin gossamer wings, and develops hideous mandibles. The target gains a +4 bonus to his natural armor, a fly speed equal to his land speed with average maneuverability, a +8 bonus on Perception checks, and a primary bite natural attack that deals 1d4 points of damage on a successful hit for a Medium creature (1d3 for a Small creature). Additionally, whenever he deals damage with this bite attack, the victim suffers 1d4 points of Dexterity damage. Creatures immune to poison are immune to the Dexterity damage caused by this bite attack. While under the effects of this spell, the target’s mind is also twisted to be like that if an insect, and the target gains a +8 bonus on Will saves against mind-affecting effects (unless the effect also works on vermin). The target cannot speak, cast spells, use Intelligence- or Charisma-based skills (except for Intimidate), or perform any task which requires concentration while under the effects of this spell.
WORM ERUPTION
School conjuration (creation); Level druid 6, shaman 7, sorcerer/wizard 6, witch 7
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a pinch of wet earth)
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one living creature
Duration concentration
Saving Throw Fortitude negates, see text; Spell Resistance yes
You conjure forth a mass of writhing worms inside of the target’s body, which slowly devour her organs until they explode in a shower of gore. Each round, the target must succeed on a Fortitude save or suffer 5d6 points of damage and 1 point of Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution damage. A successful Fortitude save negates this effect for 1 round, but the spell continues to persist as long as you concentrate on it. If the target is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, or the target’s Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution score reaches 0, the worms erupt from the target’s body in a massive explosion of blood and gore, dealing 10d6 points of piercing and bludgeoning damage to the target and all characters within a 20-foot-radius spread. Immediately after this explosion, an advanced centipede swarm appears in the target’s square. The centipede swarm is not under your control, though you may attempt to gain control of it if you have other abilities that allow you to do so. The swarm is a fully-formed, independent, living creature, and persists even after the duration of the spell.