Everyday Magic

In the Book of Eldritch Might III I included a handful of non-adventuring spells. Spells with titles like keep dry, keep fresh, and so on. Ever since then, I've wanted to create more such spells. It stands to reason that, in a world where magic works, not every spell is going to be designed to blast foes, heal wounds, or make someone harder to harm. Many would have no battle applications at all.

The following eight spells are a start, but really just a sampling of what could be done. I tried to cover a wide variety of topics. But the possibilities do not stop here. The know talent spell alone suggests a whole type of magic unto itself devoted to predicting or even shaping a child's future. You could develop spells to help a child grow taller, smarter, kinder, or anything else. Spells that grant children musical talent or an affinity with animals. And much more.

These spells may never get used in a normal game, but just knowing this sort of magic exists amid the magic missiles and fireballs adds a bit of believability to any game world.

Bless Relationship
Enchantment (Charm)
Level: Clr 1
Components: S, V
Casting Time: One minute
Range: Touch
Target: Two creatures
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

You put your deity's blessing on a relationship, most likely during a ceremony such as a marriage. Henceforth, the two subjects gain a +1 inherent bonus to Diplomacy checks made in regard to each other.

Discern Preference
Divination
Level: Brd 1, Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V
Casting Time: One minute
Range: Unlimited
Target: One creature known to you
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

You learn the subject's preference regarding an issue you specify at the time of casting. For example, if you specified, "What is the king's favorite color?" and then cast the spell, you would learn the king's favorite color so you could prepare a gift to present to him when you are called to court the next day. Likewise, you could specify, "Does Charnoth want to go into the Tower of Terephon?" and learn whether or not he does (although he still might go there, even if he does not want to).

Dream Learning
Divination
Level: Brd 2, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: S
Casting Time: One standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One sleeping creature
Duration: Eight hours (or until creature awakens)
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

A sleeping creature you touch studies a subject of your choice while it sleeps. The target learns what you know about the subject, and nothing more. The target learns as much during sleep as it would during a full day of instruction, but it cannot learn anything that it couldn't learn while awake. In other words, while you can teach arithmetic to a sleeping human, you can't teach it to a sleeping dog. Used long-term, a creature could learn new skills or lore without taking time out of the day for lessons. Use of this spell does not confer any special bonuses to skills or extra skill points, but it does potentially confer extra free time.

Instill Music
Enchantment (Compulsion)
Level: Brd 1
Components: V
Casting Time: One standard action
Range: Close (25 feet + 5 feet/level)
Target: One creature
Duration: One minute/level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

You put a song of your choosing into another creature's mind. For the duration, the song runs through the creature's head, unbidden. The spell does not compel the creature to enjoy it, but it cannot have any special helpful or adverse effects either (it could not be a harpy's song, for example). It must be a song you can sing or play.

Know Talent
Divination
Level: Clr 0, Sor/Wiz 0
Components: V
Casting Time: One standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

You learn which skill the target has the most ranks in, if any. Alternatively, if cast on a child, you know what the child's highest ability score will be, and which class and skills he may excel at. This spell does not predict the future, however-learning what a child is best at is not always an indicator of what he will actually do.

Preserve Ice
Transmutation
Level: Drd 0, Sor/Wiz 0
Components: S
Casting Time: One standard action
Range: Touch
Target: 1-foot cube of ice
Duration: 24 hours
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Ice you touch will not melt. It remains wet and cold, but does not diminish in mass.

Remove Minor Malady
Transmutation
Level: Clr 0, Drd 0
Components: S, V
Casting Time: One standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One living creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

You remove a wart, blemish, mole, or other minor physical malady from the target touched. The malady must be visible and natural, not caused by magic. This spell is not powerful enough to deal with anything that actually harms the target (like a disease).

Shelter From the Storm
Abjuration
Level: Drd 1, Sor/Wiz 1
Components: S, V
Casting Time: One standard action
Range: Close (25 feet + 5 feet/level)
Effect: 3 foot convex shield
Duration: 10 minutes/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

You create an umbrella-like shield of force over the head of a single creature that protects it from natural rain, snow, or hail. It provides no protection against a spell, such as ice storm, or an unnatural rain (such as an acid rain). Any solid blow destroys the shield (it has 1 hit point). The shield moves with the creature you assign it to, but it remains parallel with the ground at all times. You may change the assigned creature as a standard action.

Related Articles

Crafting Magic Items Since I started playing 3rd Edition D&D ten years ago, I've been a little disappointed that characters with item creation feats never made interesting items. They made the simple, straightforward ones: +1 keen swords, potions of cure light wounds, wands of magic missile, etc. Now, I suppose it's fortunate that those are exactly the items the system handles best...	What About Feats? The very heart of D&D rules design is comparing incomparable things. Character A can, once per day, inflict 4d8 points of damage. Character B can conjure a mule whenever he wants. Which is more powerful? That sort of thing....
Action Time Most of the time, my philosophy as a game designer was, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I think good game design has been hurt over the years by changes that game designers implemented to fix problems no one was complaining about. That said...	Real Caves and Caverns Here's a look at a "classic" DM's Only article from a couple years ago at montecook.com. It discusses one of my favorite game settings: caves and caverns. Those of you who bought the recent Beneath the Streets eBook (or who are thinking about running Part IV of Ptolus might find some of these observations handy for your games.
Spellcasters in the Party Sometimes, when you're working as a game designer, you have to divorce yourself from thinking like a gamer. At first that might seem like a bad idea, but hear me out....	Snakes on a Plane Aeons ago, the goddess Jaque-Arah created a minor plane of transition, similar to the Ethereal Plane or the Astral, to connect her own two otherworldly realms to the Prime Material Plane. This plane provided a conduit, which forked as one traveled from the material world to go to either of her two planes....
Everyday Magic It stands to reason that, in a world where magic works, not every spell is going to be designed to blast foes, heal wounds, or make someone harder to harm. Many would have no battle applications at all.	Troubles With Magic Traps Traps are a standard of D&D, particularly in dungeon adventures. Many spells that have survived all the editions of the game are simply traps in spell form. This article addresses the issue of when traps based on a magical effect may be disarmed or disabled. It's helpful for players of rogues and can be used alongside The Book of Roguish Luck.
Two New Ways to Handle Diplomacy Checks Diplomacy checks are difficult to work with as presented in the core rules. Here are two new variant rules subsets for making Diplomacy checks.	Zero-Level Spells Worth Casting One of the hardest design issues with spells is creating 0-level spells that are balanced but worth casting. Arguably, core rules spells like virtue don't see much use at the game table because they're just too weak to make them worth the time....
Ranger Tidbits This website was virtually launched with a revision to the ranger class, so it makes me feel nostalgic to write about the class again.	30th Anniversary Interview Series 2004 is the 30th anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons game. To help commemorate that fact, I thought it might be interesting to hear from some of the people who have worked on the game over the years, both at TSR and Wizards of the Coast.
Setting the Stage IV: Commotion in Motion This installment of Setting the Stage talks about terrain that moves around or that can cause a combatant to move.	An Occasion for Every Rule, and a Rule for Every Occasion At both Viking-Con and Worldwide D&D Game Day, as one of the designers of 3rd Edition D&D, I was asked something along the lines of, "Don't you think the increased number of rules in 3rd Edition is detrimental to roleplaying?"
A Game of Cards This week I did something in my current campaign that I've been meaning to try for years . . .	Damage Reduction Redux D&D v.3.5 changed the way damage reduction works. Although I admired the intent, the system has some shortcomings.
An Interesting Bit of Complication The opposite of "simplistic" is not always "complicated."	Modifying Magic to Suit Your Needs It will come as no surprise that I like magic in my game, but it's always so hard to equip NPCs with interesting magic.