Magic Spell Brainstorming

I want to make a list of spells that I think would be appropriate for the site. The goal is not just to open up some d&d book and copy/paste a ton of spells, but to write spells that would be fun to use, work in a text based rpg setting, and be balanced. Feel free to add your own!

I believe that all spells should require something to cast them: magic words, a wand, a spell book, and orb, ect. Whatever it is, it must be able to be taken away. (With magic words the caster could be gagged). This is necessary to prevent casters from being too powerful.

And now, the spells:

Fire Orb- An oldie but a goodie. Great for getting a lot of damage out of one spell. As the Joker says, everything burns. The caster conjures a fist-sized ball of fire in their palm and throw it. Starts people, furniture, trees, and even buildings on fire.

Ice Blast- Delivers a cone of magical coldness that freezes the target, or a part of them, solid. A good mid range attack. Not great against someone far away with a gun, but what can you do? Works like a shotgun in that it spreads out, making it much more difficult for the target to avoid.

Darkness- Suppresses all natural light in the immediate area. Good for making an escape. Magical or special light sources can still pierce it. Lasts for one minute.

Orb of Light- Not many creatures are damaged by light itself, but for those that are, this spell would be a deadly weapon. Out of combat, it's always useful to have a lightsource.

Lightning Strike- Call a bolt of lightning down from the heavens! Great as a shock and awe attack. Less useful indoors.

Toxic Cloud- You fire off a bead that flies through the air before exploding into a cloud of deadly poison. Just don't get too carried away or you may paint yourself into a corner.

Battering Ram- You focus an aura of magical force around your fists or feet. Your next melee attack will carry a devastating amount of force. Good for breaking down doors...or people.

Heavy Metal- Creates an area of effect. Metal in the immediate area weighs 10 times it's normal amount. This puts enemies with metal weapons, armor,  and bodyparts at a severe disadvantage. Requires concentration, so no other spells can be cast while you are sustaining this spell.

Protection from...(fill in the blank)- Makes you immune to one type of elemental energy, or physical projectiles. Your character sheet must specify the damage type. Sustainable, but requires concentration, so you can't cast any other spells while this is active.

Healing Rest- Heals all wounds a target has, but also puts them to sleep for an hour.

Return- teleportation user only to one specific location, which must be set ahead of time. Good for making an escape.

Barrier- You place a powerful forcefield over a door, preventing people from coming through. Only a very powerful ability can get past. The barrier lasts for an hour, or until you place another one. Good for heists.

Conjure water- You make water appear out of nowhere, shooting in a powerful stream. Good for fighting people with fire powers, or putting out a burning building.

Dispel Magic- Ends a magical effect from a spell.

Anti Magic Field- The big brother of the previous spell. Negates magic in an area, and is sustainable, but you can't cast any other spells while it is active.

Shapeshift- Changes you into something else. That something else must be decided on when you choose this spell. A disguised persona, a bear, an eagle, a giant, ect. You cannot cast other spells while in your alternate form.

Conjure simple Item- You can summon any item to your hand that is neither technical nor magical in nature. From swords to rope to fruit, you can summon anything you could hold in one hand.

Dark vision- Good combo with darkness. See in the dark, but light becomes blinding to you. Good for beating people up. Bad for going up against someone with a giant flashlight.


So there are my spells. I plan to make more. Please feel free to add your own.

It's Druid time. Megabot said that he was a fan of nature's defenders, so this post is for him. Enjoy, and don't forget to post your own spell ideas.

Insect swarm- You point at your target and speak the ancient words. Every insect within one mile will swarm that individual for 10 minutes, biting and stinging them all over. The target is seen as an enemy of nature. The insects can be killed with any sort of area of effect attack. The spell exhausts the local area's supply of insects for the next day, limiting its use to once per day.

Awaken tree spirit- You speak the ancient words and awaken the spirit of a tree. The tree comes to life. It's branches twist together to form two arms, and it's roots pull out of the ground and form two legs. The trees can walk at up to 20 miles per hour, depending on size but cannot run. They can lift up to 5 tons, again, depending on size. You can only awaken one tree spirit at a time. They stay awakened until nightfall. They understand all spoken languages but cannot speak. They will act to protect and avenge nature. They are resistant to physical damage, but vulnerable to fire.

Dire Beast- You touch and animal and speak the ancient words. The animal grows to twice it's size. It's physical attributes like strength and speed are all doubled.

Stone Body- You say the ancient words, and your body is transformed into rock. You are resistant to 2 tons of physical damage. You gain 2 tons of strength, and you are also highly resistant to elemental damage. However, your speed and reflexes are reduced. You can move at 6 miles per hour at most. You cannot cast other spells while in this form. You can choose to dismiss this spell at any time.

Fire Body- You say the ancient words, and your body is transformed into fire. You burn anything you touch, and are immune to fire and physical damage. However, water is especially dangerous to you. It causes your body to decay, like acid. Even after reverting to human, you will retain damaged and missing body parts from water damage. You cannot cast other spells while in this form.

Whisper of the Wind- You ask the winds to tell
you the direction or location of a person, place, or thing. The wind will whisper in your ears the location of what you seek. Requires a quiet location outside.

Fruit of Life- You ask nature to bless a piece of fruit. Anyone who eats the fruit before sunfall will be healed of any injuries or diseases after 10 minutes.

Fountain of Vitality- You ask nature to bless a glass of water. Anyone who drinks it becomes immune to poison until nightfall.

Grace of the Moon- You ask the moon for a blessing, and you become faster, able to run at up to 40 miles per hour without expending energy. Your body feels weightless to you, enabling you to easily perform acrobatic feats. This lasts until the sun rises.

Combustion- You say the ancient words, and fire is produced from the palm of your hand. It expands to form a blast that reaches up to 5 feet away from you.

Quicksand- You turn dirt into quicksand, potentially pulling your target into the earth.

This time we're looking at summoning as an art form. Summoning can be a bit of a challenge, so my goal is to help it strive for balance. Let's get this started.

Command Summoned Creature- If you're summoning something especially deadly, you will want to make sure it listens to you. Say the magic words and it will obey your every command, whether it can understand you or not. Usually, you can only command one such creature.

Summon slime- You summon a blob like creature from a distant universe. It is slow, but it is immune to physical damage. Fire and cold attacks are very effective against it. The blob attacks by engulfing a target and then decaying their body with acid.

Summon automaton- A robotic being appears before you. A typical automaton has 5 tons of strength and durability, but are vulnerable to electric attacks.

Animate dead- You raise a corpse to life. It is a mindless monster, and unless controlled will attack everything in sight.

The Instrument of Command- Requires a summoning and a command spell. Casting this spell takes at least a week. You create an item of power, giving you the ability to summon and control a small army of creatures. This could be used to make your own undead army to attack the city. Probably limited to 100 thralls under your control. The item of power must be an obviously magical item, and it must be breakable. You must have the item on your person and it cannot be hidden for it to keep working. Destroying the item causes all the summons to collapse or disappear. You can only make one item of power at a time.

Summon Familiar- A small animal is brought to your side and given the ability to speak. The familiar must obey you. If you close your eyes, you can choose to see through the eyes of your familiar, or even take command of it. Your familiar can be summoned or sent away at will. You can only have one familiar at a time.

Summon greater monster- You call forth a being of immense power, one you could never control. Instead, you can bargain with the creature to have it so something for you in return. The price is steep (probably your soul), so be careful in what deals you make.

Summon ghost- You summon the soul of a dead person, and you can ask them three questions, which they must answer truthfully. Then the ghost will vanish.

Summon evil clone- You say the magic words. A target you choose will now be facing an evil clone (glowing red eyes) of themselves who will act to destroy them. You cannot cast other spells while sustaining this spell. You can dismiss the clone at any time.

Speak with animals- Can't believe I forget this on the druid list. After a few minutes of meditation you can speak with any animal on Earth. Useful anytime you summon a rhinoceros. Clears up a lot of misunderstandings.

Summon Proxy- Summons a duplicate of yourself. Has all of your abilities, but cannot cast summon proxy. You do not share a hive mind with your proxy, and disagreements have been known to happen.

Summon Spook- A spook is an assassin from another world. Their bodies are physical, despite rumors that say otherwise. Pitch black, except for their dim yellow eyes, they are very sneaky. In fact they are incapable of making noise, including speech. A spook does not need to be controlled. They will look to the summoner for an assigned target. They instinctually know the direction of their target. They are tireless, and require no food, water, or air. Their fingers extend into sharp claws, which they use as weapons. If a spook is killed, it vanishes. If it kills its target, then it returns to the summoner to receive payment. They will only be satisfied with something shiney, and they seen to take a liking to such things. Spooks do not work well together. They will try to kill each other to win the contract, no matter how much shiney the summoner has to give them.

Just because you carry a sword doesn't mean you can't cast spells. For the sword mage, magic has different priorities, helping them beat their opponents to a pulp.

And now, sword mage spells:

Enchanted Weapon- After a ten minute ritual, you imbue your weapon of choice with a powerful enchantment. For the next 24 hours, the weapon negates durability and regeneraton when it strikes a target.

Fire Blade- Surrounds your weapon's blade with fire. Might want to turn it off before you try to sheath your weapon.

Dash- You say the magic words, and your speed increases a hundred fold, for the next second. Useful for a burst of speed, or to get within striking distance quickly.

Leap- You say the magic words and jump. Magical force carries you one hundred feet into the air. You also land gracefully without injury.

Defender- You perform a 10 minute ritual involving a shield. The shield becomes unbreakable for 24 hours.

Armor of the Heavens- You perform a 10 minute ritual involving a suit of armor. While wearing the armor, you gain 5 tons of durability.

Invisible weapon- Your weapon vanishes from sight, but not from your hand.

Earthquake- You say the magic words and slam your great hammer on the ground. Every object and creature in a 15 foot radius is thrown violently 5 feet into the air.

Wind Cutter- You say the magic words and slash with your sword. An arc of energy flies up to 100 feet from your location and slices through whatever gets in the way.

Homing Arrow- You say the magic words and release an arrow. The arrow will follow the target, turning around and avoiding obstacles as it tries to find it's mark.

Banishment- Speak the magic words, and your weapon shines with brilliant light. The next time you strike a summoned or extradimensional creature, it is immediately returned to its place of origin.

Ghost killer- Allows your weapon to harm intangible opponents.

Honorable Duel- You and one opponent are transported to an arena. Both of you will return only when the duel between you is finished. Surrendering or both of you calling it a draw will also end the duel and return you to your original location. Other than for the two of you, no time passes during your duel.

Berserk- You fly into a supernatural rage. You feel no pain and your strength doubles. You cannot cast other spells while this is active.

Maniac- Magic increases your agression. Your speed doubles and you feel no pain. You cannot cast other spells while in this state.

War trance- Your body moved to avoid damage all on its own. You move in a fluid, almost dance like fashion, avoiding attacks while cutting down enemies. Your reflexes are pushed to superhuman levels, but you cannot cast other spells while in this state.

Shadow Door- You enter the shadow world, one identical to our own, only without animals or people. You can move to any location within the shadow world that you can physically reach. When you want to return to the real world, you can simply cast shadow door again. To those around you, it will appear as though you teleported, but with a time delay. Some mages use this as a walking teleport. Some choose to spend more time in that shadow world, or even choose to live there. Be warned, though. Not all of those mages are ever seen again. There are those who claim they have heard noises, like the snarling of some terrible monster. There are no reports of anyone seeing it, though.