5 Old-School Spell Variants

This was prompted by discussion between @jellymuppet, @stratometaship, and @mountain_foot about whether spell variants are better written up as their own self-contained statblock, or as more terse, indicative notes that instruct the reader to refer to the base spell.


From that came these two blog posts

http://soulmuppet.blogspot.com/2018/12/some-variant-spells.html
https://footofthemountainadventures.blogspot.com/2018/12/spell-variations_4.html

so I felt inspired to write up my own.

At first I thought an advantage of the latter approach is that it's more resilient to the subtle differences between different old-school rulesets and their retroclones. For example, is a combat round 10 seconds or a minute? Does Magic Missile produce just 1 missile, or scale as the caster gains levels? Does armor class ascend or descend, and does it start at 9 or 10?

So I decided to write a few. And now I'm... less sure about which approach I prefer? I don't know if this attempt at edition agnosticism has worked.

Also, because it turns out lots of my favourite spells actually date to second edition AD&D. Since retroclones of that are rarer, I decided to provide notes on how those spells function anyway. Go figure. ;-)

 

Eyeball Torpedoes (Magic-User 1)

As Magic Missile, except the missile(s) are hovering eyeballs that swim through the air like tadpoles. They rupture on impact, releasing acidic humours.

When a caster prepares this spell, the appropriate number of eyeballs rapidly grow like enormous boils in a random location on their skin. Until fired, the caster can see through them. Once fired, the skin lesion left behind fades after 1d6 days.

 

Magical Transformation (Magic-User 2)

as Armor (i.e. mage armor in later editions), except:
 ●    it is a 2nd level spell
 ●    the armor is a visible costume change
 ●    it sheds light equivalent to a torch in the colour of the caster's choosing
 ●    it grants advantage on the first Charisma-based check the target makes during the spell's duration. If this is a reaction roll made on 2d6, instead roll 3d6 and use the best two.
 ●    the target can produce up to 20 ft of ribbons (as silk rope) at will. Reusing this ability causes previously produced ribbons to vanish.

In AD&D 2e, Armor affects one touched creature and has a casting time of 1 minute. It provides protection equivalent to scale armor (AC 6), which stacks with Dexterity and shield bonuses, but not the shield spell. The duration is indefinite, but the armor is dispelled once the wearer takes cumulative damage equal to 9 + 1 per level of the caster.

 

Alter Metabolism (Magic-User 2)

As Alter Self, but causes internal, physiological changes only. A nonexhaustive list of possible effects follows. These are not intended to be balanced against each other, and it is the GM's discretion as to whether two or more effects might be possible with a single casting.

Effects without a duration use the standard duration of Alter Self. In AD&D 2e, this is 3d4 minutes + 2 minutes per level.

 ●    Water breathing. You do not grow gills, but your lungs can extract oxygen more efficiently.
 ●    Altered skin pigmentation. This is an exception to the rule that changes are not generally visible externally.
 ●    Acclimation to high altitudes.
 ●    Unharmed by nonmagical extreme temperatures.
 ●    Improved poison and radiation tolerance. You have advantage on saving throws and/or halve any damage taken.
 ●    Suppress disease symptoms and infectivity. The disease resumes its natural course after the spell ends.
 ●    Hibernate for 1 month. During this time, you can only be roused if you take hit point damage.
 ●    Safely digest organic material such as carrion, wood, peat for 1 day.

 

Consult the Elements (Cleric 2)

As Augury, except the caster's question regarding a course of action is answered by local elemental spirits. The possible answers are Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Balance, or an appropriate cryptic phrase. The answer might be literal or be more metaphorical. For example if the question is "What awaits us on the third level?", an answer of "Water", could mean dank, flooded corridors, a faction of crabfolk, or a cool dispassionate sphinx who vivisects adventurers that cannot answer her riddle.

In AD&D 2e, Augury takes 2 minutes to cast, and must relate to a course of action taken in the next 30 minutes. The base chance of receiving a meaningful reply is 70% + 1% per level of the caster.

Element    Qualities        Humoural Disposition
Earth      Cold and Dry     Melancholic (sad, pensive)
Fire       Hot and Dry      Choleric (bad-tempered, irritable)
Air        Hot and Moist    Sanguine (optimistic, positive)
Water      Cold and Moist   Phlegmatic (calm, stolid)

 

Cloth to Chiropterans, a.k.a Brocade to Bats (Cleric 4)

As Sticks to Snakes, except it turns 4d8 square feet of cloth, leather, or other textile into that many normal bats. Note as they are under the caster's control, they do not have to make morale checks every round.




If this targets textiles worn or carried by another creature, that creature is entitled to a save vs paralysis/petrify to avoid the effect.

There is a 1 in 6 chance the bats carry disease.

Stats below are from B/X Essentials: Monsters
 
Normal Bat
AC 6, HD 1hp, Att 1 × swarm (confusion), THAC0 20, MV 9’ (3’) / 120’ (40’) flying, SV D14 W15 P16 B17 S18 (NH), ML 6, AL Neutral
 ●    Swarm: 10 bats can swarm around a character’s head, causing confusion: -2 to hit rolls and saving throws; unable to cast spells.
 ●    Attacks: As normal human.
 ●    Flighty: Unless magically summoned or controlled, normal bats check morale every round.