How come powerful wizards like Elminister and Gorion dont get spells name after them?
bbear
Member Posts: 1,180
Other great wizards like Melf, Bigby, Khelben, Mordenkainen (and others, I may miss a few) have spells named after them. Why Elminister and Gorion didnt create their own special spells?
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How do you think would those spells be called? Or what spells would that be?
Gorion's dying wish? (you get to cast it only once)
Elminster's Meddling? (anti-Friends spell)
Gorion's Folly? (A spell, which summons you a child to raise only to get you killed)
Or, following Bigby's spells - Elminster's Forceful Pointy Hat! (1d8 dmg per level on a very private body part)
9: Elminster's Effulgent Epuration: Summons several orbs that each absorb a spell. Exclusive to him.
9: Elminster's Evasion: Similar to Contingency but will specifically teleport the caster to safety upon certain life threatening circumstances.
3: Elminster's Multiple Mouths: Summons one "magic mouth" per level.
Gorion doesn't have any named spells because he doesn't exist outside BG. They drew inspiration from spells detailed in 2ed sourcebooks and since Gorion is a game exclusive NPC, there are no spells named after him.
So the original version of contemporary spells would be like the following...
General Matick's Missile = Magic Missile
Noanar's Fireball = Fireball
Any mage greater then level 10 will usually start dabbling in personal spells, since by then, they'll have the resources and hopefully the home-base necessary to carry out spell research uninterrupted, and likely be stymied by the lack of a spell that does specifically what they want it to. It's pretty costly and time consuming though, so not every mage bothers, if they have access to spell resources of other sources. You can do so earlier, but....it's not recommended. Renting a arcane lab is like 1000g per week, if memory serves, and spells can take months to develop...and that's just the cost of renting the lab....the actual research is also expensive, since you need to provide multiple copies of any costly (1 or more GP in value) components you're planning to use in the spell as mitigating factors.
"So they called it like *that* in your plane? Good to know..."
I liked that the developers created Larloch's Minor Drain for BG to give Mages and, particularly, Necromancers a good 1st level spell that would increase their survivability. I always wondered if there was a Larloch's Major or Moderate Drain. He did create his own Disrupt Undead spell (2e) which he would cast against his own servants, draining or destroying them to heal himself when necessary. However, that probably wouldn't work out so well for living spellcasters, being that it infuses them with negative energy.
BG could really use a "Velsharoon's Spectral Hand" to give wizards the ability to use touch-related attacks without engaging in melee.
Beyond that, what @Jalily said is accurate (as far as I ever heard) in that Melf and Bigby and the rest were all characters in Gygax' campaign.
Or to Quote Douglas Adams:
"The precise details are not important because no one has ever managed to duplicate the exact circumstances under which it happened, and many people have ended up looking very silly, or dead, or both, trying."
To add a level of difficulty, My DM played that you couldn't simply by a "Name" spell like Melf's. You had to actually track down one of the very few spell books that actually contained it. This usually involved some quest or another into a very dangerous area. it added flavor such that if someone had a Name spell in their book, you knew they earned it. it also meant that not every wizard had a 'Stock' list of every spell in the PHB. I kind of liked that flavor and feel that it is lacking in games like NWN (even if it was a house rule).
Elminster's Effulgent Epuration
(Abjuration)
Range: 10 feet/level
Components: V,S
Duration: 1 turn/level
Casting Time: 1
Area of Effect: Special
Saving Throw: None
This powerful spell calls into being a number of floating, silver spheres, up to as many spheres as the caster has levels. Each of these spheres has the ability to absorb a single spell, spell-like ability, or magical effect of any offensive type. After absorbing the spell the sphere fades out, taking the spell energy with it.
Offensive spells can generally be considered to be those which inflict damage on the target or place the target under a baneful or harmful influence. Passive spells (such as walls) can sometimes be used in situations with harmful intent. Intent and situation are as important as spell effect for determining whether a spell is offensive or not for purposes of the epuration working. Various walls, spheres, some of Bigby's spells, and most abjurations will not affect the epuration spell.
Those spells which have area effects in which a silver sphere exists (such as a fireball) will simply not function.the magical energy will be sucked into the sphere before the damage is inflicted. Spells which are already in effect when the silver spheres enter them are not affected by this spell, but they are automatically
negated if cast within 10 feet of a silver sphere. Items with charges of offensive spells (such as wands) can be negated if the the sphere is placed on or in front of the wand. Otherwise, the spheres do not affect magical items or weapons, or potentially lethal items that are not activated, such as symbols.
The caster can direct the spheres to drift at a maximum movement rate of 60 feet per round, up to the limit of the spell range. The spheres created from a single epuration must move as a group, the caster cannot move them individually or split them up. The wizard creating them may cast other spells, but cannot move the spheres in the same round. The caster can move and fight and move the spheres at the same time. If the caster leaves the area without the spheres, they remain until they absorb an offensive spell. Similarly, if the caster is slain, the silver spheres remain in the area, not moving, but not inflicting any damage.
The silvery spheres of epuration cannot be physically moved or attacked. They have no solid, physical presence and can pass through magical and physical barriers alike without harm. Neither the caster nor anyone else can harness the spell energy dissipated by the spheres. Even the spell-like abilities of powers and creatures from other planes can be affected by the silvery spheres of an epuration, though the beings themselves may not be.
Elminster's Evasion
(Evocation)
Range: 0
Components: V,S,M
Duration: Instantaneous
Casting Time: 1 turn plus the casting time
of all associated spells
Area of Effect: Caster
Saving Throw: None
A customized version of the contingency spell slanted toward the preservation of the caster, this spell will cause, under certain specific conditions, the caster's body, mind, and spirit to travel to another location. The transfer is automatic and transfers only the body and those items physically attached to it, but leaving behind any attached items weighing more than 50 lbs. individually. The spell brings together body, spirit, and mind, even if in different locations.
When casting this spell, the wizard must detail six specific conditions that the evasion will function under. When any of these situations occurs, the caster's form is whisked away to the location. This location can be on the same plane or on any other known plane of existence or demiplane that the wizard has visited. Also when casting the spell, the mage indicates two other spells (cast immediately after the evasion by the mage) that will be cast once the wizard arrives at the location.
The material components of this spell are a pint of the caster.s blood and a gem worth at least 5,000 gp. Both are consumed in the casting of the spell. The wizard also immediately loses 1-4 hit points which remain lost until the evasion spell is triggered, at which point they are immediately recovered.
This spell was developed by Elminster of Shadowdale, with the intention of taking his form to a dimensional location he calls "Safehold" for cures and resurrection (if needed). As an example, the six clauses he says he uses are:
1. Upon his own death;
2. Upon loss of his mental faculties;
3. Upon loss of his physical faculties;
4. Upon destruction of both upper
limbs;
5. Upon destruction of total body
volume;
6 . Upon his utterance of the word
"Thaele."
Supposedly Safehold contains enough contingencies, spells, and magical items to effect a safe rescue of the sage of Shadowdale, should it be necessary.
Obviously these spells don't exist in the Baldur's Gate games and even in P&P were never common or easily learned by players but they make for some good examples of the Old Mage's spell creations as presented in 2nd edition.
Elminster also considers Lhaeo (King Haedrak the III of Tethyr) a very close friend, and he's a 3 mage/4 fighter.
And Volo is just a lvl 9 mage, and he's ridiculously famous and well travelled.
And Gorion in-game, is only 9th level in all genuine appearances. Though that doesn't mean he couldn't use scrolls to cast higher level spells...they'd just have a higher chance of failure, the higher above his casting power they were. And the sad thing is....if Elminster wasn't a Chosen of Mystra he could've just popped in and blew Sarevok away, since he wasn't really that far away by epic mage standards.
In DnD, people greater then lvl 10 are the exception, not the rule. By that point, they've usually settled down and built themselves a stronghold on some land they bought or were granted, or have just become fabulously wealthy and retired to enjoy the spoils. Hell, people greater then 5 are still fairly rare.
While BG doesn't really show it too clearly Magic is stupidly powerful (far more so then just battle spells). Even level 1-3 mages are able to bend reality in all sorts of interesting ways that an non-caster could only dream of.
In 2nd edition, all the settings were loosely connected, Forgotten Realms is under AO's authority, but there are other universes that are slightly connected with the outer planes. Hell BG has you directly meet people from Dragonlance and some enemies from Dark Sun....and Boo and the Gith Pirate's spelljammers are..well..direct references to Spelljammer, the planescape items and anyone from Sigil are from Planescape. Vecna is a God-lich from Greyhawk that people in Faerun have heard of, but since he's part of a different Cosmology, just think of him as a REALLY powerful lich, who thinks he's a god.
Drawmij is Jim Ward backwards, and there goes a story about his character forgetting to bring an extremely important plot item with him into a dungeon at a critical point where not having it would have doomed the entire party.
He then successfully argued to Gary Gygax that any wizard of 14th level would certainly have the ability to summon his most useful items to hand when required, hence the spell was invented.
Sounds like a good premiss for a mod.
Sounds similar to the "True Dweomer" concept from the DM's Option: High Level Campaign supplement.
Once you get to level 20 (both mage or cleric, although clerics need to make the spell fit into the context of their spheres), you can forge your own spells using the following guidelines; Type, Area of Effect, Range and Duration.
Type is split into the main 8 schools each with various spell archetypes:
Abjuration:
- Banish (returns something to place of origin)
- Dispel (ends or undoes certain magic)
- Reflect (reverse or redirects an action)
- Ward (discourages hostility or a specific action)
Alteration:
- Animate (inanimate objects)
- Destroy (inanimate objects)
- Fortify (enhances natural potency)
- Transform (alters target's form)
- Transport (alters target's movement)
Conjuration/Summoning:
- Afflict (Inflicts an ill upon creature)
- Bind (enforces a pact upon creature)
- Conjure (summons matter from an elemental plane)
- Summon (summons an outer planar creature)
Enchantment/Charm:
- Charm (forces an emotional response upon target)
- Compel (forces an action upon target)
- Fortify (same as alteration true dweomer)
- Imbue (grants target a quality or ability that is new to them)
Divination:
- Foresee (reads the future)
- Reveal (reveals hidden things)
Illusion/Phantasm:
- Conceal (hides objects or creatures)
- Delude (distorts senses)
- Shadow Shape (manipulates material from the demiplane of shadow)
- Phantom (conjure mental imagery)
Invocation/Evocation:
- Create (conjures a wall of something)
- Imbue (same as enchantment/charm true dweomer)
- Strike (strikes target with a blow of force)
Necromancy:
- Animate (undead)
- Slay (living)
- Tap (channels lifeforce)
Area of Effect is split into Creature, Area and Object. Creature is about how many are targeted, Area is determined by square feet and Object is determined by how heavy the object is. Area of Effect could also refer to animated objects which takes in consideration the size, weight and therefore damage potential.
Range is pretty much straight forward from "touch" to "trans-planar".
Same with Duration from "instantaneous" to "permanent".
Each of the above have varying difficulty ratings. Each certain type has a base difficulty rating, while the higher you go in Area of Effect, Range and Duration, the higher the combined difficulty rating becomes. After that is added up you subtract the rating with the level of the caster (with a 5 bonus for subtraction if the caster is a specialist). You can lower the difficulty rating by sourcing material components, the rarer they are the larger the subtracted bonus. You can lower the difficulty rating far below 0.
The Difficulty Rating is then used to determine the preparation time and the casting time of the spell. A rating of 5 or lower has a casting time or 1 round, 6-20 is 1 turn, 21-50 is 1 hour, 51-150 is 1 day and anything above is 1 week.
There's also a chance of spell failure if you roll a 1d100 dice and the result is lower than the final difficulty rating, then you have to prepare the spell again.
So basically you pick the spell's type like "Ward" give it some quirks or context like it being a Ward against Anomen (or just make it ward against anything), settle on the Area of Effect, Range and Duration. A Difficulty Rating is calculated which determines the strength and casting time of the spell.
This whole process could be easily streamlined for the context of a video game but it's just to show that there is a 2ed precedent for such a concept.
A mod can't do this because there is no opcode that lets you alter the duration, range or area of effect of a spell (although you can kinda alter the casting time value in general). It might be possible to make every single combination of the above spell types but that's potential over a thousand spells. I'm sure if Beamdog wanted to, they could get something like the True Dweomer system set up.
Aside from the largely divine Quest Spells, this is what HLAs for Mages should be all about. The True Dweomer comes from the same sourcebook that details non-magical HLAs.