Today I want to talk about something I am very much involved in right now. Spell Research.
One of the more nebulous rulings in *D&D covers research new spells. Across all versions of the game there are spells named after various wizards and magic-users. Some have real world significance such as Otiluke, Rary, Mordenkainen, and Melf. Others represent historical or mythical figures. But all have the implication that this spell was created by or named for these spell-casters. So someone had to write them.
There are thousands of D&D spells. I think my 2nd Ed database (in Microsoft Access 97) has 3000+ spells. I know the 3rd edition has to be more; there are about 2000 attributed to Pathfinder alone. A project I am working on now tells me that my own OSR witch books have 700+ unique spells.
Someone had to write all of these.
Someone that is other the authors of these games and books. Someone in the game itself. (But both are true).
So what are the hows and whys of Spell Research?
Why Should a PC Spell Caster Research a Spell?
This one is the easier of our two questions. Why? Lots of reasons. The PC might want some new effect or magic not listed in PHB. Say they want to cast "Frost Ball" instead of "Fire Ball" because they are more fond of cold based attacks and not fire ones. Maybe the new spell comes about as part of other magical research. Maybe it was a total accident while casting a spell and not having the material components on hand or even a poorly memorized spell.
There are a number of in-game reasons. In Ghosts of Albion, spells are cast based on Success Levels. If a character casts a spell and gets really high successes on it then sometimes something new can happen. I would give the same sort of ruling to D&D sorcerers and bards, they do something strange and a crazy new spell effect happens. But that is an accident, what about doing that on purpose.
The most compelling reason, of course, is need.
Take a look at my witch (not important that it is a witch just yet) spell "Moonstone". This spell stores moonlight.
MoonstoneWhy do I need this spell? I mean it's only first level, but a torch is cheaper. Also, it is actually LESS effective than the first level spell Light. You can't cast it into someone's eyes to blind them.
Level: Witch 1
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 day per witch level
The witch can store moonlight in a small stone. The stones must be enchanted and then exposed to moonlight. Each stone will last 1 day per caster level unless discharged. Once invoked, the moonstone will shed soft light, equal to torchlight, and give off no heat. The moonstone does not affect low-light vision and does not cause damage to creatures that would normally be affected by light.
Note: Despite the wich's level, no Moonstone can last past the full cycleof the moon. So if moonlight is stored during a full moon then it will only last till the first night of the next full moon. If the witch's level is less than the number of days to the next full phase then the spell ends then.
Material Components: A bit of moonstone and the light of the moon.
(Special thanks to +Paolo Greco for pointing out some errors on this spell.)
The reason here is need. Moonstone is a fine spell all on it's own. But it's true value comes when paired with other spells.
Spells like Moon’s Heart (finding the time and direction, 1st level), Witch Writing (writing that can only be read by moonlight, 3rd level) Moonlit Way (finding the safe path, 4th level), and Moonbow (create a weapon out of moonlight, 6th level) all need moonlight to work. Not something that can happen easily underground OR during the daylight hours. Unless, of course, you have a fully charged Moonstone.
Another need is maybe less defined. Back in the 3e days, I created a Prestige Class that had as a part of their requirements the applicant had to submit a new spell for the use of the other members of the Class.
Plus there is always the challenge and joy of discovery. Spells like Wave of Mutilation and Brigit's Flame Sheet were created just for the sheer joy of it.
I think this holds true for any sort of Arcane spellcaster. What about clerics? druids? Heck, even witches!
Clerics & Druids
In the 3.5 SRD is says that Divine Casters can research a spell much like Arcane Spellcasters can. But that section only says "A wizard also can research a spell independently, duplicating an existing spell or creating an entirely new one."
That's not really a lot to go on.
More to the point why would they do it? I mean aren't clerics supposed to be given their spells by their gods? Does it make sense that a cleric would tell his god "hey, look I know you are busy, but instead of light can you give me a spell that casts moonlight instead?"
It does if you think of clerical spells like a liturgy or even a sermon. Think of modern day priests, preachers and other people of the cloth. They have their holy books. They have some sermons and prayers they have always done (common book of prayer for example), some hymns that have been used since the middle ages and so on. But they also write a sermon, sometimes a new one, each week. The purpose is to take divine inspiration, common language, and new ideas to make something new.
Now. Truth be told Clerics (and Druids) should get a set amount of "spell levels" of power to work with an then they can perform their miracles as needed. That might be a little too much like Mage for most D&D players' taste (but it would be fun to try it!). From this perspective, even a tradition bound "old" class like the druid could invent new spells. In theory, an all knowing god should know which spells to give when. For this reason, I do allow clerics and druids to swap out spells on the fly. Much like how D&D 3 introduced the idea of spontaneous healing magic.
But what about witches?
Witches
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| This is an 8th level Ritual Spell for witches. |
At one point in the show Charmed, the witches learn that they can also create new spells rather than just relie on the ones in their Book of Shadows. It actually becomes a feature of the show where Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) is the sister with the best ability to come up with new spells. It is this ability they have that allows them to tap into greater and greater sources of their power. One such spell summons the power of all their family witches to destroy what is essentially the Devil (Source of All Evil. But not without cost.)
Given this would I allow "10th level" spells? That's a good question. Most spells of significantly high level do a lot. A spell that powerful would need to be limited in other ways.
So that's the why, what about the how?
That depends on the edition.
1st Edition starts with some advice on page 115 of the DMG. The hardest part of this is determining the level of the spell in question. This is done only by comparing the spell to be created to others in the Player's Handbook. +Bruce Heard expands on this in Dragon magazine #82 (more on that tomorrow!), but it does cover somethings not in the DMG that are important. Namely to properly stock your occult/arcane library.
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| An occult library. |
2nd Edition covers much of the same ground, but with less information to be honest. Even the amount spent is now only given as a range of gp.
3rd Edition and 5th Edition have similar advice on pages 95 and 283 (respectively). So similar in fact that it felt like I was reading the same text. Though they both give good advice on setting levels based on the amount of damage caused. The numbers differ, but the logic is the same.
I could not find any Spell Creation or Spell Research rules in BECMI or 4th Edition.
So really. The level of the spell is largely a matter of guesswork and tradition. I spend a lot of time, maybe too much time, trying to figure these things out.
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| Yeah. A lot. |
Creating a Spell
I wonder if we can use what we know already to create a new spell. This is one I am actually working on right now. As I type these words the spell is not written, but it will be by the end of this post.
The spell is one I have thought about for a while. It allows a caster to make a perfect copy of another spell into a specially prepared spellbook. I have decided that the spell needs the following.
A specially prepared but blank spell book. This will be 200 gp per the level of the spell copied. Following the rules above. The quill used to scribe the spell has to come from the rare Giant Mimid Bird (or Dire Mockingbird if you prefer) and the ink is a rarer distillation of the ink of an octopus (not a squid).
The spell makes a duplicate so it is beyond Mirror Image or even Minor Creation since the creation is magical (in a sense). It is less than Wish. It is permanent, but more so than Permanent Image.
It can reduce the time needed to copy a spell down to hours from weeks, that is pretty powerful.
8th Level feels right, but I could go as low as 6th and maybe, just maybe up to 9th.
It's a new spell, so let's give it a name. My iconic witch is named Larina. I always imagined this was her spell. Since it deals with the copying of spellbooks some form of Liber should be used. After all, aren't all spell books written in Latin? Liberum works and that is a call back to my d20 Witch book. Since the words are being set free then Libre is also good. Alliterations are always fun.
So let's go with Larina's Liberum Libre.
Let's try it in Basic-Era/S&W/OSR format.
Larina's Liberum Libre
Level: Witch 8, Wizard 8
Range: 1 Spellbook
Duration: Permanent; see below
This spell was named for the first witch to successfully use it to make a copy of another spellbook. The spell requires a book of the same size, shape and page numbers of the spell book to be copied. The base cost for this book is 200gp per spell level copied. Also needed are a special quill of a Giant Mimid Bird and distilled ink of an octopus. Both may be purchased, base cost of 100 gp, or prepared by the caster ahead of time. The ink is used up in the spell casting, the quill can be used for 1d6+6 uses.
The blank book, quill, ink and the spell book to be copied are placed on a specially prepared cloth (not rare, just clean and white). The spell is cast and the cloth covers both books. The spell will take 1 hour per spell level to copy. Once complete the spell will create a perfect copy of the book in question. If the spell is interrupted during this time; the cloth removed or either book opened, then the spell is canceled and the new book, ink, and quill are destroyed.
Note: Normal non-magical books may be copied as well, but only require normal ink and a regular book with the same number of pages.
Ok. So I like the spell, might tweak it a bit before publication. Still not happy with the guesswork involved with the levels.
I would love to develop a system like I did for Ghosts of Albion but that would take a time and the return might not really be worth it.
How do you go about researching spells? Both in game and in real life?
