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Originally posted by sleyvas

Well, I love Ed's spell making, but he's a classic example for me. He came up with a plethora of ideas in Seven Sisters/Magister, etc..., many before anyone else.... and thus he was treading new ground with little to work from... but a lot of those 2e spells can pretty easily be broken. For instance, with 2e mechanics, rainbow shield could be turned into an amazing buffing/healing spell rather than the intended variation on "hurt those who hit me" spells. Similarly, he had another spell which could just rip through most defenses and lay waste to undead spellcasters in that edition (think it was like Maw of Chaos or somesuch).

That being said, I don't want you to think I'm ripping on him... again, he had nothing to work from. We have the advantage of seeing his concept and fixing it.

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Originally posted by bloodtide_the_red

With spells, and most rules, the problem is more no editors.....and that is really no rule content editors. Sure they have the fancy non-rule normal professional editor types to make sure the verbs have the right usage. But no one to look at RPG rules.

And a LOT of spells can be fixed with just a single line. For example, my Gate fix: The caster has NO CONTROL WHATSOEVER of any creature summoned by this spell(but is free to use other means to do so). See, perfect easy fix: summon whatever the caster wants....but you have no control over it.

And spells, like most rules, it does depend on how you play the game. The book rules are written for some beyond odd way of playing the game.

Most often this comes down to Legalize. All that text to make things ok. "This spell requires concentration" , "this spell can not effect the duration of other spells" and so on. You see a bit of it in the core rules...and then they missed like 1,000 things.

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Originally posted by Cosmar

I agree generally that already written material from somewhere covers pretty much everything needed. I think custom spells at this point often are more about flavor, or maybe combining effects of other individual spells.

For example, (and please someone let me know if this was already published somewhere), I had an idea for a "Spell Wind" spell, which would act like the Whispering Wind spell, except you can cast another spell in conjunction with it to be "attached" to the Whispering Wind and released upon the Wind arriving at its destination, after the message is delivered. (Only certain kinds of spells can be attached and only up to a certain level for Lesser/Greater Spell Wind - I was thinking Lesser being 4th level and allowing up to 3rd-level spells being attached to it, with Greater being 7th level and allowing up to 6th-level spells being attached to it.)

Though my primary experience is with 3rd edition, I started D&D in 2nd edition, and I do like how 5th edition has scaled back the vast crunchiness of 3rd edition and done a decent job of balancing every kind of play. Magic is still powerful, but not necessarily as much as a be-all-end-all, and the power curve has been flattened a bit to make low-level play a lot less painful for casters. (A level 1 wizard in 5e is capable of much more sustained badassery than a level 1 3rd edition wizard, but a 20th-level wizard is much less capable of Total Domination in 5e than in 3e or 2e).

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Originally posted by sleyvas
For instance, tying a suggestion spell into a whispering wind.... interesting idea.

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Originally posted by sleyvas

The problem for me becomes finding them again.... so much stuff I wrote up 25 years back that I have no idea where it is anymore because I change computers every 2 or 3 years (even more often now that I have a laptop and a desktop that I keep in different areas of of the house). I'm actually surprised when I find a lot of stuff that I've posted here over the years (like I found my old lecture on spell strategy in 2e last week via google that I had re-posted in 2006 in another discussion on spell strategy).

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Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

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Originally posted by sleyvas

The problem for me becomes finding them again.... so much stuff I wrote up 25 years back that I have no idea where it is anymore because I change computers every 2 or 3 years (even more often now that I have a laptop and a desktop that I keep in different areas of of the house). I'm actually surprised when I find a lot of stuff that I've posted here over the years (like I found my old lecture on spell strategy in 2e last week via google that I had re-posted in 2006 in another discussion on spell strategy).

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This is why I long ago got into the habit of having two hard drives in my computer. One for the software, one for everything else. Comes time to swap computers, grab that second hard drive and toss it into the new computer.

I don't need to do that any more, though, since I got a NAS set up.

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Originally posted by The Arcanamach

Sort of I guess. I generally think spells that are 'creative' in nature are 'Realms' spells. Example: A reskinned spell (say fireball reskinned to 'necrotic blast' that does negative energy damage) isn't what I'd necessarily call a Realms spell. At least, not in the context that I believe you're getting at. However, this spell that I came up with would strike me as a 'Realms' spell:

Xylemic Transfusion (Necromantic, Transmutation)
Level: 4
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Touch
Effect: See below
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Yes (Will negates)
Spell Resistance: Yes

This druidic spell allows the caster to heal another creature of all manner of damage, disease or poison and can even restore lost limbs and organs and, in some cases, even restore the dead to life. Druids rarely cast this spell, however, as it requires plant matter from a healthy tree that is destroyed in the process. Still, the sacrifice is sometimes deemed worthwhile and druids will always plant several new trees as compensation to Nature for their actions.

When cast, the recipient must eat the plant matter raw. If unable to do so, the caster must inject or otherwise implant the material into the host or the spell will not work. Once accomplished, the recipient will begin growing small roots that grow into the ground while also being covered in vines and leaves much like a cocoon. The roots begin drawing nutrients from the ground while the magic of the spell enhances and transforms them into whatever is needed to effect the purification and healing of the recipient. These growths disappear at a rate of 10% per day after the spell runs its course.

The process is long (and painful) with 12 hit points being restored per hour. After 3 hours, any disease carried by the recipient is healed. After 6 hours, the effects of any poison or venom are eliminated. Also, if the druid casting the spell is of at least 13th level and the host was dead AND enough healing occurs within the duration of the spell to bring the recipient from death to 100% restored health, then that individual's life may be restored. To succeed, the recipient must succeed on a Constitution check (not a save). If successful, they are brought back to life. But there is something of a cost...

The individual brought back to life is altered into a plant-based form. They retain all of their abilities, alignment and personality but their skin typically becomes green or brown with the appearance of leaves or bark, respectively. Hair is transformed into a mass of small vines and leaves and the eyes are almost always a deep/dark green coloration. Henceforth, the individual requires water and sunlight to survive and no longer requires food (nor do they excrete waste as they once did). It is up to the DM whether such a character remains playable... but too much time spent underground will cause such a character to whither and, eventually, die (effectively losing a full hit die each day they go without both water and sunlight). Furthermore, such individuals typically become very sluggish during the winter months (reduce all ability scores by half during that time).

However, the lifespan of such an individual is multiplied by ten. Thus, a human who should have lived 70 years will now live for 7 centuries.

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Originally posted by Bugbear

So, for creating a custom spell, what exactly would you say is a Realms spell? Is there such a thing? Is there something about a spell that when you look at it, you'd say that it is a Realms spell?

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Originally posted by The Arcanamach

No, it's a spell that MIGHT bring a character back from death as a plant-like creature...one that the DM is free to retire from the game if deemed unworkable for any reason. And I'm curious as to what these demigod benefits are that you speak of? Doesn't need to eat anymore? Rarely a problem in games anyway. Lives a super long time? Never been a problem in games either. Nothing in the spell states that the creature takes on the Plant type with requisite benefits (that was 3e anyway, this spell was written for 2e).

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Originally posted by bloodtide_the_red

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Originally posted by Bugbear

So, for creating a custom spell, what exactly would you say is a Realms spell? Is there such a thing? Is there something about a spell that when you look at it, you'd say that it is a Realms spell?

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Well, Realms books are full of spells but you won't see much agreement. Though far too many writers just don't put much effort into a spell section, and plenty hate crunch like spells.

For a Realms Spell, you really can only go to Ed Greenwood (maybe a couple others). So with that you would get:

1.Powerful. And not just damage dice. The spell has a huge noticable effect that can do quite an effect.

2.Complex. The spell has a LOT of effects...and side effects...and after effects and other effects.

3. Multiple uses. The spell does more...often much more then just one thing.

4.Unique. The spell does something unique, it's not just "a cold fireball".

5.Weird and Wonderful. Just reading the spell invokes images of awe and wonder. The casting of one of the spells is something special.

Algarth's embattlement, also known as box of spells, allowed a caster to cast more than one spell at a time.

Storm's Frozen Moment, can 'stop' someone for a round, even in midair.

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Originally posted by LordofBones

The weird and powerful ones are all high level spells created by Elminster and friends...and you can pretty much duplicate Elminster's evasion with Craft contingent spell.

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Originally posted by LordofBones
I'm looking at FR-exclusive spells right now, and I really have to ask what's so wonderful about Aganazzar's scorcher. Others are just variations on existing spells. The weird and powerful ones are all high level spells created by Elminster and friends...and you can pretty much duplicate Elminster's evasion with Craft contingent spell.

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