A Hamsterish Hoard Of Hexes

 When I started posting bits and snips of rpg material way back when (2008? OMG AM I OLD *lol*), it was mostly critters of various stripes -- something I still tinker with -- but sprinkled in here and there were posts of spells, or collections of spells, and I didn't waste any time writing up trinkets and fancies and magic items of various stripes either, because we all like shinies.  And life was good ~  ;3

I kept this up for a good stretch until life and life crises derailed me, and then I turned into far more of a lurker in the online rpg scene for a number of years.  But lo and behold, the wheel turns and times change, and what's old is new again again, and I peeked my head out on Twitter a while back.

I found folks I remembered from before, and new folks, and life was also good!

And lo, a project grew from a grand suggestion: gathering up spells that I've written and forming new, themed spellbooks from them.  And then adding descriptions for said spellbooks -- and non-spell contents of their pages -- and nifty trinkets and shinies a spellslinger who knows the magics contained inside one might own.  And along with that, a selection of enchanted items.

Including the spellchick.  Because I am still ridiculously proud of the spellchick.  Moohahaha.

A Hamsterish Hoard Of Hexes is going to be released by Paolo Greco of Lost Pages fame (and credit where credit is due, Paolo is also where the nudge to do this came from!), and it's going to be illustrated by Alex Damaceno, creator of Beyond The Borderlands.  The eccentricities of the words inside are mine, though X3

Looking forward to posting more about the contents later! 83

Book of the Burning Sands: the first fragment

[This spellbook -- or, rather, portion of spellbook -- has seen better days. Sages are uncertain whether the tawny scroll's surface is of papyrus strengthened by magic to the durability of parchment, or of parchment enchanted to resemble papyrus; the lettering and diagrams of the spells upon the scroll's surface are inked in sooty black, accented with vermilion and gold. A scattering of notations in the language of the Shining Sands describe the binding of desert spirits, but the scroll is incomplete -- it breaks off after the third spell, tattered and scorched, and the ragged end-edge where a winding rod should be hints at a missing introduction at the least. As the Book circulates through learned circles, quests for the remainder of the scroll have been mounted but have so far been unsuccessful.]


Ignition
Level: MU1
Range: 50'
Duration: 2 rounds
Effect: Sets subject alight

This spell sets a single subject on fire, causing 1-4 hit points of damage on the first round and an additional hit point of damage on the second; if used to ignite a target soaked in oil, the damage from the spell is doubled. The double damage will also apply if the subject is in contact with at least a pound of sand.


Junari's Dustcurtain
Level: MU2
Range: 60'
Duration: 8 turns
Effect: Concealing curtain baffles attacks

Casting this spell creates a swirling barrier of golden, garnet-flecked sand measuring up to 400 square feet in dimension (10'x40'). This barrier obstructs missile attacks (inflicting a -3 penalty) and baffles line-of-sight spellcasting. The dustcurtain may be penetrated physically, but those crossing through it take 1-4 hit points of damage from the sharp, burning sand crystals.


Desert Spite
Level: MU3
Range: 0
Duration: 4 rounds
Effect: Incapacitates foes with heat

Casting this spell causes the temperature within fifty feet of the magic-user to suddenly spike, as searing, flickering winds begin to whirl. For the first round, affected creatures are at -4 to all actions; for the second and third round, the penalty is -6 to all actions and movement is halved. The fourth round resembles the first, as the winds weaken. The magic-user may designate up to six subjects to be unaffected by desert spite at the time the spell is cast.

The Book of Light

[A small volume, this spellbook has covers of finely hammered and frosted steel with a faintly bluish tinge, formed over a core of oak. Both covers are lipped and one is slightly larger than the other, such that the pages are completely encased when the book is closed. The pages themselves are of fine parchment, the script and diagrams within recorded in a strong hand in black ink; the front cover bears an unknown sigil in cobalt and azure enamel. The Book of Light contains eight first level magic-user spells, six unique spells as detailed below with the addition of shield and magic missile.]


Blastsphere
Level: MU1
Range: 0
Duration: 1 turn
Effect: Blocks magic missile damage and creates a concussive sphere

Casting this spell creates a field of magical energy around the magic-user which halves the damage caused by magic missiles and similar effects. Once during the duration of the spell, the magic-user may create a palm-sized shimmering black orb; this orb may be thrown up to 20' and explodes with concussive force, causing 1-6 hit points of damage.


Arms of the Brute
Level: MU1
Range: 0
Duration: 1 turn or 1 hour
Effect: Improve damage in combat or ability to lift, carry and haul

The magic-user has two forms of this spell to choose from. If the combat version is used, a +2 to weapon damage is gained for one turn; if the non-combat version is chosen, the magic-user adds +4 to their Strength score for the purposes of lifting, carrying and similar activities for an hour.


Silver Sickles
Level: MU1
Range: 50'
Duration: 4 rounds
Effect: Creates flying silvery shears

Casting this spell conjures a pair of curved, hinged shearing blades that can be commanded to fly up to 50' away from the magic-user. In combat the blades deal damage as a dagger, and function as a silver weapon; against plants and plant-based monsters the blades inflict an additional 2 hit points of damage.


Shining Bolt
Level: MU1
Range: 50'
Duration: 1 turn
Effect: A shattering bolt of electricity

Bright and to the point, this spell produces a bolt of brilliant lightning that races towards the chosen target, inflicting 1-6 hit points of damage; the bolt also shatters metal and desiccates scale and flesh, causing the target's Armour Class to worsen by 2.


Hoarfrost
Level: MU1
Range: 40'
Duration: 1 round
Effect: A blade of ice and possible environmental hazard

This spell creates a razor-keen shard of ice that flies at a single target within range, causing 1-6 hit points of damage upon impact. Alternatively the magic-user may direct the shard against the ground, creating a slippery skin of ice up to 40 square feet in area that lasts for four rounds; any attempting to cross the ice must make a dexterity check or fall prone.


Shroud of the Blaze
Level: MU1
Range: 0
Duration: 1 turn
Effect: Orbiting protective flames

Casting this spell creates two airborne flames that circle around the magic-user. Any opponent that attacks the magic-user in melee is stuck by the flames, receiving 1-2 hit points of damage. Once during the duration of the spell, the magic-user may create a third flame; this flame may be directed to 40' away and causes 1-4 hit points of damage to its target.

The Book of the White Cat

[A compact volume of spells and cryptic notations on the construction of mageries, the Book of the White Cat is small enough in size to be cradled comfortably in the crook of an arm. The Book's pages are of creamy parchment edged in gold, its contents scribed in a sure and delicate hand in black and cinnabar inks; the covers are of dense oak overlain with immaculately clean white velvet. And -- over the velvet -- is stitched, edged in golden thread, what seems to be the pelt of a small white cat, with its tail dangling free from the spine of the Book. The "bones" inside the tail are of silver, however, and the tail serves as a magery that will contain one spell level per day when life energy is given to power it.]


Veil of Mist
Level: M1
Range: 0
Duration: 2 turns
Effect: Magical field absorbs energy

Casting this spell cloaks the magic-user in a protective sheath of magical force. This ward may take on any form -- a pearly mist, orbiting plates of milky crystal, a barely-perceptible green glow -- and will absorb 2-5 hit points of elementally- or magically-inflicted damage before dissipating.


Senseglyph
Level: M1
Range: 60'
Duration: 4 hours
Effect: A single warding rune

Casting this spell places the glyph for "watchfulness" anywhere within the spell's radius. This glyph is normally silvery but may be rendered visible only to the magic-user if so desired when the spell is cast. For the duration of senseglyph, if a creature passes within 5' of the glyph the magic-user is alerted to the activity; the glyph does not identify the type of creature, or its intent.


Winter's Talons
Level: M1
Range: 60'
Duration: 10 rounds
Effect: Grasping spars of ice injure and confine

Casting this spell at a target coats its lower body in bitterly cold ice, freezing it in place and injuring the flesh. The target takes 1-3 hit points of damage and is immobilized for the spell's duration unless they can break free; a successful Strength check will enable escape in 2-4 rounds, and strong creatures break free in 1-2 rounds. Application of flames will free the target but also inflict appropriate damage.


The Fire Rose
Level: M1
Range: 0
Duration: 4 turns
Effect: A flower-like sphere of flame

Casting the fire rose conjures to the magic-user's hand a rippling, twisting sphere of flickering fire that resembles a stylized rose of flame. The magic-user may elect to use the fire rose as a melee weapon (as a dagger, with +1 to to-hit and damage rolls), or release it as a single-use projectile with a range of 60', 1-6 hit points damage and a +3 bonus to hit.


Pale Winds Gifting
Level: M2
Range: touch
Duration: permanent
Effect: Sacrifice lifeforce for healing another

A rare curative trick in the magic-user's arsenal, this spell allows the caster to give up their own lifeforce for others. For every hit point sacrificed by the caster, the recipient is healed two hit points. This spell's dweomer resists being cheated; if a clerical healing spell is applied to the caster to heal the sacrificed hit points, it is only half as effective.


Storm of Doves
Level: M2
Range: 120'
Duration: 1 round
Effect: Creates doves of lightning

Storm of doves creates a flock of fluttering birds of crackling electricity that swarm all within a 15' radius of the spell's point of origin. The doves inflict 2-8 hit points of damage, and victims must save vs. paralyzation or be stunned for one round.



White Queen Tail: The tail dangling from the Book of the White Cat functions as a low-powered, universal magery that requires lifeforce in order to function. Every day a single spell level may be created and stored within the Tail by sacrificing two hit points which may not be healed that day; the Tail will hold no more than that single spell level at a time, which may be tapped when the owner of the Tail wishes in order to cast any single first level spell currently available to the owner.

Spellbooks of Nathan Serpentarius: the Least Book

[Though there are believed to be many such texts, widely varied in power and content, this slender volume is by far the most widely known of Serpentarius' works of celestial magic. Small enough to be stitched into a girdle-binding and showing faint marks of such, the text is carefully scribed onto black-dyed vellum in silver ink. The leaves are bound in a cover composed of the silver-white scales of some unknown beast, and bear upon the front Serpentarius' sigil of a serpent biting its own tail in blue and jade enamel. Scattered throughout the pages, intermixed with the texts of the spells, are charts and star diagrams in silver ink picked out in azure.]


Pale Astral Barbs
Level: M1
Range: 20'
Duration: 2 rounds
Effect: Infuses one or more projectiles with energy

Casting this spell causes up to four arrows or other projectile weapons to glow internally, as if a tiny blue-white star burned within each of them. Each weapon so enchanted gains the ability to injure creatures immune to non-magical weapons and half again as much range.


Falling Star Ghost
Level: M1
Range: 100'
Duration: 1 round
Effect: Creates a magical bolt that injures and dazes

Casting this spell conjures a single "star ghost" -- a tiny silvery sphere that trails pale multicoloured flames -- which flies unerringly towards a target designated by the magic-user. The star ghost inflicts 1-4 hit points of damage and stuns the target for one round.


Concordance of Heaven
Level: M1
Range: 0
Duration: 1 round
Effect: Reads the workings of the heavens momentarily

The casting of this spell attunes the magic-user, however briefly, to the celestial underpinnings of time and fate. The magic-user has a 50% chance, plus 1% per level, to divine whether a single action would be favorable or unfavorable. Concordance may reach no more than a few hours into the future.


Vox Astra
Level: M2
Range: 50'
Duration: 1 turn
Effect: Evokes a favorable astral harmony for a target

With the casting of this spell and a single sung note, the magic-user calls upon favorable stellar harmonies to affect the fortune of a single target. The chosen individual gains +2 to saving throws and to-hit rolls, and a +1 bonus to Armour Class, for the duration of the spell.


Blade of the Stars
Level: M2
Range: 10'
Duration: 1 turn
Effect: Creates a blade of starlight

Casting Blade of the Stars creates a shining blue-white blade of of solid starlight which is wielded as a weapon. Whether as small as a dagger or as massive as a two-handed sword, the damage the "starsword" inflicts remains the same: 2-12 hit points per strike. Individuals injured by the blade suffer a -2 penalty to all rolls for the following round as the blade's strike disrupts their connection to their own fate.


Fires From Heaven
Level: M3
Range: 150'
Duration: 1 round (see below)
Effect: A wedge of icy stellar flame

Fires From Heaven calls the pale, icy iridescence of starfire to the hands of the magic-user, who may then direct the flames in a cone of icy fires measuring 5'x15'x25'. All caught within the blast take 1-4 hit points of damage per level of the magic-user and are left reeling, at a -4 to all rolls, for 2-8 rounds.


Touch of the Heavens
Level: M3
Range: 0 or touch
Duration: 4 rounds or until used
Effect: Stores celestial energy within a target for their next attack

Touch of the Heavens infuses a recipient chosen by the magic-user with the forces of the heavens, causing a faint blue-white inner glow. The recipent's next attack -- whether physical or magical -- is augmented by these celestial fires, inflicting an additional 5-30 hit points of damage and stunning the target for two rounds.

Grimoires

I've been tinkering with the notion of "grimoires" -- spellbooks which contain only a single spell or possibly a few closely-related spells, which may only be cast by reading directly from the grimoire's pages. The upside to this necessity would be that the spell(s) of the grimoire are distinctly more powerful and / or esoteric compared to the run of the mill variety.

So far, my major points of consideration are:

- The spell(s) are more powerful than a typical spell of its "level". Not necessarily radically so, depending on the spell in question; some may simply have unusual effects.

- The spellcaster expends a memorized spell of the same nominal level (or a number of spells that add up to the level) in order to cast from the grimoire.

- The casting takes time, as the grimoire must be leafed through, read from, etc. It's not enough to just have the book in one's possession, it must be made use of. (Just how long I haven't decided.)

- If a spellcaster somehow came into possession of a grimoire with spells of a level higher than they could normally cast, they can make the attempt if they have enough spells to spend fuelling it. Backlash of some kind would likely be involved.

- A spell from a grimoire cannot simply be learned. It can be used as a source of spell research for an equivalent (and higher level) "normal" spell, but a grimoire spell is unique and cannot be memorized straight from the grimoire's pages.

... So, these would be the cast-from-the-book ritual type spells, with unique appearances and (theoretically, at least) effects. Maybe non-spellcasters could have a way to use the things.


Maybe, for extra oddity, the things could also have alignment Ego and Intelligence scores much like certain swords --

Genreh's Text

[A tiny girdle-book of fragile parchment leaves, slim and bound in soft mink-brown doeskin and containing four carefully-annotated spells. Strangely, the contents are divided between the art of the magic-user and the miracles of the cleric; the first inked in crimson, the second in gold. The tiny book is commonly believed to be named for its discoverer.]


Reading Life's Threads
Level: C 1
Range: 25'
Duration: 1 round
Effect: Divines the health and physical integrity of a creature

Casting this spell allows the determination -- at a glance -- whether a creature has been injured, has been poisoned, or is currently in ill-health. Reading life's threads does not exactly identify the nature of magical or cursed malady; however, you may use the information it provides to work towards a positive identification. Lycanthropy, for example, may register as a magical curse caused by injury -- but review of the subject's battles will narrow the options swiftly.


Lifeseed
Level: C 2
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 day
Effect: Places a beneficial "packet" of energy within subject

The casting of this spell creates a lifeseed, a "packet" of energy drawn from the Positive Energy Plane, and places it within the chosen recipient. At any time during the spell's duration, the recipient may choose to absorb the energy contained within the lifeseed; this absorption either heals 1-6 hit points or nourishes the recipient as if it were a normal meal. Only one lifeseed may be carried at one time by any given individual.


Will of the Scarlet Moon
Level: MU 2
Range: 100'
Duration: 1 turn
Effect: Enchants a subject with a monofocused bloodlust

Will of the scarlet moon, when cast upon a chosen target, compels that target to single-mindedly attack a single designated creature to the best of its ability. While under the influence of will of the scarlet moon, the targeted individual ignores all other individuals and threats, attacking its designated victim with bloody intensity; they gain a +2 to to hit rolls and damage, but -4 to Armour Class.


Scarlet Moon's Fury
Level: MU 3
Range: 100'
Duration: 5 rounds
Effect: Imbues a powerful -- and murderous -- battle-skill

The enchantment placed by this spell creates a surge of unending fury and blood-hunger in a single creature, making them into a single-minded, nearly bestial combatant. To hit rolls and damage inflicted are increased by +4; Wisdom, however, drops to 6 and no actions may be taken other than to attack savagely. The recipient is immune to further mind-influencing spells while under the fury's effects, and will attempt to kill anyone within sight -- including the magic-user, given the chance.

Spellbook musings: part the third.

It is very annoying to me how, in the BEMCI ruleset (and Labyrinth Lord for that matter), there is no cost for adding spells into a spellbook and yet replacing lost or destroyed books costs a veritable fortune, to the tune of 1000gp per spell level. I'm all for paying for what you need to replace -- but gouging that much cash from a hapless MU who will be defenseless without the spellbook(s) seems a little much. Especially when first scribing the books costs the character nothing at all.

A little tinkering, says I, is required. Luckily, there are many examples to borrow inspiration from -- and a useful extenuating circumstance.

Scribing costs: A widely-used (from 1e to 3.x) and fairly reasonable standard scribing-price for a spell is 100gp per spell level to be scribed. This works nicely, to my mind; expensive enough to keep rampant scribing in check, not so expensive as to completely bankrupt the MU given the rates of treasure acquisition. (If a little randomness is desired, make it, oh, 6d10+50gp.)

Campaign-based rationale for this price can be easily made by considering the materials used. Ritual materials, exotic quills or ink-pens and most of all the ink needed for such an endeavour can easily eat up a MU's gold. Ink for imbuing the spell formula may be infused with myrrh and rosewood ashes, or distilled from cinnabar and dragon's blood, or glittering with miniscule flecks of purified jade and gold ...


Replacement costs: At a minimum, replacing a spellbook should cost as much as the initial scribing of the book; the MU is, after all, performing the same work again. However, a case could be made that replacements -- having to start from scratch, without references -- should cost twice as much, or three times if the DM prefers it (though I would argue against it).

The real cost in losing spellbooks, whether to damage or theft, is in finding the means to have any reference for the spells being replaced. One could make a good argument that -- except for any spells memorized at the time and still in memory -- a MU cannot replace lost scribed spells unless a reference is at hand. Gaining that needed reference could become costly in a different way, as the MU goes into debt with other spellcasters for access to their books for copying purposes, and rare spells may not be recoverable at all! Truly, this spectre presents a good argument for spending the gold for multiple copies of ones' spellbooks!


Duplicating spellbooks: An optional notion would be to allow a MU to re-copy their own spellbooks (so as to make two copies, one being already in hand) at half the required cost, as they are already well familiar with the material and the notation. On the other hand, it could be as easily argued that familiarity or no, material costs are material costs.

Spellbook musings: part the second.

After some thought on the matter, here are some ideas for the use of spellbooks that have drifted though my mind so far. It's somewhat rough-and-ready; but then, so are the original rules --

The first thing to note is that I wanted to have some idea of how many pages scribing a spell may take up. 3.x uses this scheme; at that, I'd had some formula or other years ago for pagecount for 2e but have long since forgotten exactly what it was (alas). Page-count could be abstracted for spellbooks, but for things like scrolls and folios of loose "spellbook pages" I'd like to have a number. Call me odd that way I suppose.

I am assigning a page-count of 4 pages per spell. In my campaigns, spells are more powerful as they increase in level but not necessarily more complex, and so needn't eat up more notation; also, the original rules didn't distinguish between spell levels when scribing spells and that fits nicely with the above. Feel free to substitute 3.x page-count or whatever catches your fancy ;3

That said, some sample spellbooks:

"Standard Spellbook": The common beastie, usually bound in hide from some exotic monster or even in thin metal, with corner-caps, straps and lock, and occasionally a protective casing. I've decided on an average measurement of 12x10" for a standard book, give or take a few inches, and a thickness of 2-3" on average. This was based on comfortable sizes of textbooks that I own; and also the Book of Kells, which measures 13x10" and I believe a thickness of 3-4" based on my memory of the facsimile at my university. (Granted it also has 340 leaves, but we'll just say you can get that after adding pages to your spellbook ...)

A typical spellbook will have 90 leaves plus 3d10. It costs 100gp and weighs 100cn / 10lbs.


Travelling Spellbook: Smaller than the standard keep-at-home model, a travelling spellbook is more usually bound in durable leather or monster hide and has fewer of the metallic reinforcements and ornamentation of the full-sized spellbook. A travelling spellbook averages 9x6" with a thickness of 1-2" though one can add more pages if desired. Travelling spellbooks require one-half again as many pages for scribing a spell.

A travelling spellbook will have 50 leaves plus 2d10, before adding pages. It costs 50gp and weighs 40cn / 4lbs.


An example girdle book: Girdle books, like many medieval books, range from small to unbelievably tiny. A 5x4" girdle book like that from the Spencer Collection would be quite thick indeed and require double the standard page-count -- or more! -- but may be designed to have as many leaves as a travelling spellbook, or even more. Other girdle books may be larger but have fewer leaves.

Regardless of actual dimensions, an unornamented girdle book costs 40gp and weighs approximately 10cn / 1lb.


Adding leaves: Spellbooks may be designed to be thicker than the norm. The price will increase in proportion to the percentage of leaves added to the base number. Adding more than dozen leaves to an already-bound book will require it to be re-bound and may damage the already-scribed spells contained within it.

Leaves vs. pages: Yes, one leaf equals two pages. No, I have no problem with allowing that much space in a spellbook; call it a half-nod to the "endless spellbook" of the Red Box *grins* YMMV, however, and like all things feel free to change and tinker with as you will. I may change this myself, though at the moment it best captures the number of actual physical sheets (and even then feels rather low).

Scrolls and folios: A scroll will be at least four pages long (to hold the spell), with perhaps the space of an extra page for "endpapers" or mounting onto end-bars. The more spells, the longer the scroll. Folios, for this purpose, are defined as collections of loose leaves kept between two "covers" -- wooden panels, etc. and the whole secured with ties or similar fasteners.


This bit of houseruling allows for variations in spellbooks, in found spells that aren't expressly spell-scrolls in the "cast 'em now" sense, and -- most especially -- in the kitting-out of beginning MUs. Perhaps the PC's master sent them off with a traveller's book or small girdle book and has left the PC to finance their own master spellbook if and when they need one. Perhaps the PC has fled their master, smuggling out a haphazard folio of spells ...

Spellbook musings: part the first.

I'm seriously considering changing the spellbook rules (such as they are) for BEMCI. More precisely, the size of the bloody things and how many spells they can hold. This is being brought about by the desire to have other sizes and forms of spell recording -- such as the scrolls and folios mentioned in recent spell postings of mine -- available to PCs, and because the extant rules drive me batty.

In the Red Box, we are told that "a spellbook is about 2 feet square, 2-6 inches thick, and weighs at least twenty pounds". This already hurts my head on sheer size alone when I try to contemplate the size of the parchments used to make the quires of pages -- medieval books were not generally so massive in dimensions, I swear -- but, in addition to this, there is apparently no limit to the number of spells that may be entered into the spellbook. (magic --!)

Neither the Red Box nor the RC give a price for a spellbook. An expanded equipment list from Dragon Magazine ("Different Totes For Different Folks", March 1993) gives the spellbook as 100gp, weighing 200cn / 20 lbs, with a measurement of 24x24x6", and capable of holding a grand total of twenty-four spells.

Ouch.

Over in the land of Labyrinth Lord, the OGL version of the spellbook is in use: 15 gp, weighing 1 lb., with 100 pages and spells taking up one page per spell level. No dimensions are given. This feels like it goes a wee bit too far over into the other extreme (price-wise, at least, and maybe weight also for a main spellbook), but I'm still debating.

Ideally, in the next day or so I'll cobble together a collection of standard sizes, with options to go smaller, perhaps -- yes, I quite like the idea of a girdle book as a small "travel-sized"spellbook, limited in space but containing spells the caster doesn't want to be without, and it's a major cause of my musings here -- and post them up for general consumption.


Similarly, the putting-spells-in-the-book system versus replacing-the-book system needs work. More to the point, being able to scribe new spells into a spellbook with no cost attached but being forced to shell out thousands of gold pieces to replace a lost book -- when it is much the same process in many ways -- strikes me as quite daft. This bit requires more mulling-over on my part but I do want to address it in some way that doesn't grow too complicated.