Shoot a jet of acid from one hand. Each turn, the caster rolls against DX- 4 or Innate Attack skill to hit. The jet may be dodged, but not parried or blocked. The jet does knockback as per Snow Jet; if the jet strikes the face, the acid may blind the victim as detailed on p. B428.
Duration:1 second.
Cost:1 to 3. Does 1d-1 of damage for every point used. Range is equal to the number of dice. Cost to maintain is the same.
Prerequisites: Magery 2, Water Jet, and Create Acid.
Item
Staff or wand. Usable only by mages. The jet issues from the item’s tip. Energy cost to create:400.
Rain of Ice Daggers
Area
Ice Daggers rain from the sky onto the area, causing 1d-2 impaling dam- age per second to all within it. Characters and creatures under the Rain of Ice Daggers take damage on their own turns; if less than an entire second is spent in the affected area, damage is halved (round down).
The spell can only be cast out of doors. Armor protects in the usual fashion. A shield with a DB of 2 or bet- ter can be held overhead to block the ice, but it may take damage (p. B484). This requires two hands and a Ready action, and succeeds automatically in protecting the character once the shield is readied upwards, but this unreadies the shield from its normal protective functions!
Inanimate objects such as buildings protect with their DR.
Duration:1 minute.
Base cost:1 (minimum 2). For dou- ble base cost, the Rain of Ice Daggers does 1d per second!
Prerequisites: Magery 2, Hail, and Ice Dagger.
Item
Staff. Usable only by mages. Cost to create: 800 energy and a $1,000 sapphire.
Storm
Area
As listed under Weather Spells, p. 195.
Icy Breath (VH)
Regular
The caster expels a deadly hail of ice and cold air from his mouth. The caster rolls to hit against DX-4 or Innate Attack skill. This counts as an attack; it can be dodged or blocked, but not parried. The caster must be facing his target. No hand gestures are required to cast this spell; certain lip and tongue motions are made instead. Thus, Icy Breath can be cast “no hands” at any level of skill.
Duration:1 second.
Cost:1 to 4. Does 1d+1 damage for every point of energy in the spell. Cannot be maintained.
Time to cast:2 seconds.
Prerequisites: Magery 1, Snow Jet, and Resist Cold.
Item
Jewelry. Usable only by mages. Cost to create: 400 energy and a $500 sapphire.
Breathe Steam (VH)
Regular
Similar to Steam Jet, except that the steam issues from the caster’s mouth, Breathe Steam cannot be maintained, and each energy point buys 1d damage instead of 1d-1. Caster rolls to hit against DX-2 or Innate Attack skill. This counts as an attack; it may be dodged or blocked, but not parried. The caster must be facing his target. No hand gestures are required to cast this spell; certain lip and tongue motions are made instead. Thus, Breathe Steam can be cast “no hands” at any level of skill.
Duration:1 second.
Cost:1 to 4. Cannot be maintained.
Time to cast: 2 seconds.
Prerequisites: Magery 1, Steam Jet, and Resist Fire.
Item
Jewelry. Usable only by mages. Cost to create:1,000 energy and a $500 carnelian.
Spit Acid (VH)
Regular
Similar to Acid Jet, except that the acid issues from the caster’s mouth, Spit Acid cannot be maintained, and each energy point buys 1d damage instead of 1d-1. Caster rolls to hit against DX-2 or Innate Attack skill (p. B201). This counts as an attack; it may be dodged or blocked, but not parried. The caster must be facing his target. No hand gestures are required to cast this spell; certain lip and tongue motions are made instead. Thus, Spit Acid can be cast “no hands” at any level of skill.
Duration:1 second.
Cost:1 to 4. Cannot be maintained.
Time to cast:2 seconds.
Prerequisites: Magery 3, Acid Jet, and Resist Acid.
Item
Jewelry. Usable only by mages. Energy cost to create:400.
Essential Acid (VH)
Regular
Turns regular acid into the magical essence of acid. No substance is immune to its bite, and it inflicts three times as much damage before being neutralized. Essential Water or Flame, in like quantity, will nullify Essential Acid. If frozen with the Freeze spell, it is harmless until thawed.
At the GM’s option, this spell may produce alkahest (p. 220).
Duration: Permanent until neutral- ized.
Cost: 8 per gallon.
Prerequisites: Magery 3 and all six Acid spells.
Item
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Usable only by mages. Energy cost to create:1,100.
“You did what?!” Jenkins yelped. “I needed some rain on the north forty, so I pulled some clouds in from the hills. What’s wrong with that?”
“Jones brought in a northeasterly to pollinate his sunflowers! When it pushes your clouds over the ridge, it’ll flood the Aaronson place for sure.”
“Well, it serves Aaronson right,” Dan Friedlander grumbled. “Dumping hail on little Susie Atkins’ birthday party just because his Jenny wasn’t invited – what kind of person does something like that?
“That’s beside the point, Dan! I also happen to know that widow Sawyer needed that rain for her tomatoes, and you just went dumping it on Vic Aaronson!”
“Well, how am I supposed to know that? It’s not like Emmeline Sawyer talks to me these days!”
Jenkins sank his head into his hands. “Everybody does something about the weather, but no one talks about it.”
GMs willing to give weather mages more potential may wish to have all Weather/Area spells cast using long- distance modifiers (from the caster to the edge of the affected area).
Frost
Area
Creates a covering of frost on all surfaces in the area of effect. The frost is real, and lasts indefinitely if the tem- perature is below freezing. In warmer conditions, the frost quickly melts to a dew. When cast upon a real or magical fire, the frost produces a cloud of steam and causes the flames to hiss for a few seconds. Only a tiny fire – a match or candle – would actually be extinguished by a Frost spell.
A Frost spell cast upon a fire ele- mental or other flaming creature does one point of damage to the creature, but is more likely to anger it than drive it away.
This is also a Water spell.
Duration: The frost lasts until it melts naturally.
Base cost:1.
Prerequisite:Create Water orCold.
Item
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Cost to cre- ate:200 energy, $350 blue gem.
Fog
Area
Creates an area of dense fog. Even one yard of fog blocks vision. Flaming weapons and missiles lose their extra power in fog. A Fireball loses 1 point of damage per yard of fog it must traverse (e.g., a 3d Fireball that crosses 5 yards of fog inflicts 3d-5 damage), while vic- tims of an Explosive Fireball may count each yard of fog as two yards of distance from the blast. However, no amount of fog will extinguish a fire.
This is also a Water spell.
Duration:1 minute.
Base cost: 2 to cast. Half that to maintain.
Prerequisite:Shape Water.
Item
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost to create:300.
Predict Weather
Information
Forecasts the weather accurately for a given location over a given time. This forecast does not take magical meddling into account, or predict the actions of other wizards!
This is also an Air spell.
Cost:2 times the length of the fore- cast, in days. Double the cost for a location outside the general area (say, over the horizon). Quadruple the cost for a place on another continent. This spell cannot predict weather on plan- ets or planes other than the one where the caster currently is.
Time to cast: 5 seconds per day forecast.
Prerequisites: At least four Air spells.
WEATHER
SPELLS
193
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
Waves
Special; Area
Changes the surface calmness of any large body of water. Each applica- tion of the spell can increase or decrease the wave height by one point on the Beaufort scale (above); to achieve multiple-point changes, multi- ply the spell’s cost accordingly. The wind is unaffected. Note that the Beaufort scale is specific to ocean waves; waves produced on lake shores are generally much lower relative to wind speed (GM’s judgment).
The spell may be cast on an area, affecting the waves moving across it. It can also be cast on an object, such as a ship, which it must then encompass in its entirety (typically, 10 to 30 yards in radius). The area of effect then moves with the object.
This is also a Water spell.
Duration: 1 hour.
Base cost:1/60 (minimum 1). Same cost to maintain.
Time to cast:1 minute. Prerequisite: Shape Water.
Item
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost to create:300.
Clouds
Area
Creates or dispels normal outdoor cloud cover, as the caster chooses.
This is also an Air spell.
Duration: 10 minutes, after which normal clouds leave or return unless the spell is maintained.
Base cost:1/20 (minimum 1). Same cost to maintain.
Time to cast:10 seconds.
Prerequisites: At least two Water spells and two Air spells.
Item
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost to create:300.
Current
Special; Area
Affects the currents of any large body of water. Each application of the spell can shift the current direction by 22.5 degrees or speed by 1 mph (or knot). To achieve combined direc- tion/speed changes, or more extreme changes in one or the other, increase cost proportionately.
The spell may be cast on an area, affecting the current moving under it for 40 yards in depth. It can also be cast on an object, such as a ship, which it must then encompass in its
entirety. The area of effect then moves with the object.
This is also a Water spell.
Duration:1 hour.
Base cost:1/50 (minimum 1). Same cost to maintain.
Time to cast:1 minute.
Prerequisites: At least six Water spells.
Item
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost to create:300.
Tide
Special; Area
Each application of this spell can raise or lower the water level by one foot; for larger changes, increase the spell’s cost proportionately.
The “hill of water” thus created spreads naturally from the area affect- ed, dropping by one foot for each yard beyond the actual area of the spell.
The spell may be cast on an area, affecting the tide in it. It can also be cast on an object, such as a ship, which it must then encompass in its entirety. The area of effect then moves with the object.
This is also a Water spell.
Duration:1 hour.
Base cost:1/30 (minimum 1). Same