Long Lost Spells Part II
A while back, I did a post about spells from the Wizard's Spell Compendium Volume 1 (1996) for the 2nd edition. It was a fun exercise as there were a great many spells that fell by the wayside as the game moved on. I always meant to return to it, but life got in the way. I didn't think about it until I reviewed our old reference books and came across the Wizard's Spell Compendium Volume (1996), and I figured now was the perfect time to take a look at some old spells once again.
As I stated in the first article, there are so many wonderful, powerful, and flat-out odd spells it's hard to pick which ones I want to play around with. At the time, I did not want to covert the spells. I just reviewed them with a commentary on what they were about and how they could be used in the 5th edition. This time, I dove deeper and analyzed a much more comprehensive range of spells. Because the list was much longer, I only looked at spells that started with the letter A. I also converted a number of them so that we can enjoy casting a new spell and possibly driving our GM insane. Below you'll find a handful of the spells I converted.
Accuracy
1st level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 minute
You temporarily enchant both normal and magical ammunitions to extend their range, thereby improving the chance of hitting distant targets. This includes all items that can be discharged or thrown. A quiver of arrows could be so enchanted, but the bolt fired by a ballista could not.
Upon casting the spell, the ammunition is enchanted and glows faintly, making it easy to distinguish from normal ammunition. For the duration of the spell, the normal range of the enchanted ammunition is doubled. The number of pieces of ammunition that can be enchanted is a maximum of 6 per your current level.
(brush and ink, which are used to inscribe a small glyph on each missile)
Afterclap
9th level evocation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 60 ft.
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
This spell allows the caster to duplicate all the damage suffered by a single creature within range at the beginning of the next round. All damage is exactly duplicated in type and amount, with all damage rolls, saving throws, and ability checks the same as in the previous round. Conditions inflicted by an attack are unaffected. The damage may be magical or non-magical in nature.
Example: A wizard casts afterclap on a single target. On that round, they take 6 piercing damage from a crossbow attack, 28 lightning damage after failing their saving throw from a lightning bolt spell, and 8 points of slashing damage with an additional 13 radiant damage from a paladin's longsword attack and smite. At the top of the next round, the target takes an additional 55 total damage (6 piercing/28 lightning/8 slashing/13 radiant).
Airball
3rd level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 ft.
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
Turning your hands, a swirling ball of grayish-blue compressed air forms that you can throw with devastating force. When you cast this spell, you may target either a single target or an unoccupied space that you can see.
If fired at a single target, the creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. A target takes 6d6 force damage and is stunned until the end of its next turn on a failed save. On a success, the target takes half as much damage and is not stunned.
If fired at an unoccupied space, the airball appears 120 feet into the air above the target location, immediately falling to the ground with incredible speed. Each creature in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. A target takes 3d6 force damage and is pushed back 5 ft on a failed save. On a success, the target has half as much damage and is not pushed back. All gas or vapor within the radius is dispersed, and it extinguishes candles, torches, and similar unprotected flames in the area. It causes protected flames, such as those of lanterns, to dance wildly and has a 50 percent chance of extinguishing them.
Airboat
8th level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 1 mile
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 day
You point to a cloud, which immediately descends toward you. The cloud takes 3 rounds to reach you. During this time, you determine its shape, and the cloud will reform into whatever you can imagine. The shape has no bearing on its performance. You must be outdoors to cast this spell.
You and up to ten other creatures of your choice may board the airboat, which flies at a speed of 100 feet per round under your telepathic command. You are considered to have proficiency with the airboat. While on the airboat, you have resistance to lightning and thunder damage and are immune to damage caused by nonmagical winds. The airboat has an AC of 13 and 100 hit points.
Animate Blood
5th level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (120 ft.)
Components: V, M
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute.
You use your blood to do your bidding. To cast this spell, you must cut yourself and spill up to 4 droplets of blood onto the ground around you. . See the Tiny Servant for their statistics.
As a bonus action, you can mentally command the creature if it is within 120 feet of you. You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue a simple, general command, such as to fetch a key, stand watch, or scout ahead If you issue no commands, the servant does nothing other than defend itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the servant continues to follow it until the task is complete.
In addition, you may command a droplet to launch itself at the nearest hostile creature's eyes, ears, or nose. The target must make a Dexterity check. On a failure, the droplet enters the target's orifice, taking 4d4 necrotic damage, and is poisoned for 1 minute. The target takes half the damage on a success and is not poisoned. The droplet immediately dissipates after attacking.
(a small metal pin)
That’s it for now, but I’ll be moving on to the letter B and all its wonderful spells very soon. Additional spells for the A group will be made available on our Patreon and updated as this series continues. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts and any spells you may have thought of below.
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