If you were to do this sort of thing, I think it would have to be X words or syllables per level, with 3 words a level being probably the maximum -- the longest incantation I've got up there is 36 words, which is probably about the upper limit for believable single-round statements.
Haikus are probably the best approach, variable-length haikus.
While he was alive, John F. Kennedy held the record for fast talking at 350 words per minute.
It's a good thing rounds are abstracted, and also that you can talk out of turn. Perhaps the fluff incantations started well before your turn even started!
In any case, 6 seconds (or even 3) is a surprisingly LONG time if you count it out loud without rushing. I wouldn't overanalyze it if I were you. All it's going to do is ruin peoples' fun and cause resentment against you for doing so.
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Oh sure, wasn't saying otherwise -- my games tend towards the 'Talking is a Free Action' thing, with monologues and philosophical rambling between spells. We just also make fun of particularly verbose examples. :-p
Anyway, in an effort to be more on topic... MORE SPELLS. Cleric in question is a Trickster Domain, which explains the certain bend.
Prayer
To powers great I now appeal
To curse my foes; their luck I'll steal
And grant my allies purloin'd weal
So bind all to this unfair deal!
Flame Strike
True subtlety still guides my heart,
To smile, to sneak, to creep, to lie.
But power has a hundred arts,
And so with flames I bid thee die.
Anyone got anymore ideas? There's plenty more spells out there!
I like the idea though elaborate incantations should be used sparingly and it's probably a good idea to practice reciting them before hand. I think rhyming incantations work best for bards, skalds, flamboyant wizards, overly dramatic witches and sorcerers. With regards to my witch I don't see myself using rhyming incantations or google translate etc. I'm still feeling encouraged to say a few words upon casting a spell.
I kinda don't feel Sorcs doing elaborate encatations the way I do other Arcane casters. They didn't learn any of this they just flicked their wrist muttered something in tongues and suddenly fire/the bully wet himself.
I see them more just sort of doing little one liners, other casters I imagine doing incantations.
I see sorcerers as intuitively making up/figuring out rhyming incantations for their spells i.e.they don't need the formulaic words to cast as a spell they just need to express themselves in a manner that let's them cast, and everyone knows incantations rhyme. The words work because the sorcerer expects them to work. They don't know the rules they just know spells are waving your hands around and talking funny. Spell-casting for the sorcerer is expectation and the expression of their will.
I can see your interpretation and understand where you're coming from. For me though nothing will be better than that moment when the sorcerer sees their loved one thrown to the ground, flames flicker behind their eyes, they feel their rage turn to magic, feel it coursing through their veins, they throw their arms forward and mutter, voice cracking Burn as flames cascade forth from their fingertips.
I think both can be true. I feel the specific words and gestures don't really matter to the sorcerer.
It also could depend on the bloodline. For example, an Arcane Bloodline Sorcerer might go with the fancy incantations that his wizardly grandfather uses, since that's the kind of magic he inherited. Meanwhile, a Fey Sorcerer casts spells using whimsical (and macabre) poetry, because fairies are creepy like that. And of course, a Draconic Sorcerer casts his spells by shouting curse words in the draconic language, because how else are those spells supposed to work?
Dracarys
Dracarys
Hey! These boards are family friendly!
Crazy mo to settin all this s%!& on fire.
Who is that guy?!
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Wow, I wish I'd read this thread earlier!
I had a wordcaster sorcerer who was a cultist of Azathoth - I'd use the words from Eternal Darkness for various magic words, and use them. So,
Selected (Boost) Summons (Boost): TIER/PARGON/ARETAK/AZATHOTH/PARGON
As for rhyming bard spells, how about a comedy-focused bard casting Glibness?
"The sky, 'tis green/ and moles may fly/ a sunny night/ we never lie."
Cure Serious Wounds by the same bard:
"By the power of Razmir, thy wounds! They art healed!"
Another bard (Detective, whose oration is supposed to be gritty noir monologues):
Heroism
"Get me through this case/ I'll live to retire in Spring/ Choke on that, Zyphus!"
Good Hope
"I'm casting upon you Good Hope/ to help all you team-mates to cope/ with spells that will fail/ and helping us nail/ that Aspis Consortium dope!"
Feather Step
"The Cherry Blossom/ Falls from the tree to the dirt/ And I hate my life."
Hold Person
"HOLD IT!!"
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The 80s cartoon "Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light" had some actually decent "incantations."
Getting info from this strange genie-like thing:
A whim, a thought, and more is sought!
Awake my mind, thy will be wrought!
Summoning a destructive monster:
By Nature's hand, by craft, by art,
What once was one, now fly apart!
Dome of force:
The arrows turn, the swords rebel,
May nothing pierce this mortal shell!
Summon a riding tornado:
Sheathe these feet in the driving gale,
Make swift these legs, o'er land I sail!
Ask the magic owl for advice:
Whispered secrets of a shattered age,
I summon you, renew this sage!
Those are the only ones I remember... I'm sure there were more. I think all of the knights who had magic staves had an incantation like that.
(Ah, the random things you remember 20 years later...)
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This works for just about any conjuration spell. It's from the movie "Excalibur"; Merlin's Charm of Making:
In Old Irish
Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis’s bethad, do chél dénmhaIn Modern Irish:
Anáil nathrach, ortha bháis is beatha, do chéal déanaimhIn English:
Serpent's breath, charm of death and life, thy omen of making.
That translation is from this post.
And here's a clip of Merlin using it.
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I feel like verbal components being couplets works the best for bards, and maybe some clerics or oracles.
I have a good witch whose spells tend to involve spooky-sounding mutterings, and an evil witch whose spells tend to involve high-pitched shrieks and threatening growls.
For the good one's Evil Eye hex, she glares at the bad guys while calling out their transgressions, like, "You're stealing from beggars!? Shame on you!" and it fills them with shame.
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Oh hey, this thread still exists, because the internet is forever!
And I have a few more banging around in my head. Four verses were getting old, so I stuck to three this time;
There is no cause for alarm
I will not do your body harm
Your person instead I will charm
Come forth like a vertical pyre
See the flames rise ever higher
Be now trapped by this wall of fire
The endsong now I do knell
A final incantation, I now tell
And so your magic now I dispel
Before my power, your attacks shall yield
As greater magics I do wield
And so my body, I do shield
My words like hammers to simple matter
For me the first, for you the latter
As your flasks, they all must shatter
This form I wear soon must falter
Like beast that bears nor bit, nor halter
As with my magic, my very self I alter
Surely you lot can do a whole lot smurfing better than that! Bring it the smurf on!
Thank you!
...I actually really need to sit down and work out some more incantations. The bad guys are higher level, Flame Strike doesn't cut it anymore.
What's a good Death Clutch incantation... hum hum hum...
I usually just pick a foreign language and say the spell name in that.
Ex: mount: “Cavalo rápido!”
Portuguese for fast horse.
Daylight
In darkest days and endless nights,
No shadow shall escape my sight
That those who worship evil might
Fear the power
Of my daylight!
:D
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Huh, this thread's been idle for months, time to necro this puppy!
Disjunction, -junction, what's your function?
Wrecking your magic with no compunction,
all your spells will now malfunction!
Your thread was severed, as by a knife,
Spirit and flesh I rejoin, like man to wife,
As I exhale into you this breath of life.
Follow the Ball of Bouncing Flame,
That I've conjured from my Brain.
Oh how I love your look of fright,
Now begone, Fireball Ignite!
Magic in the hat be free
Let us use the sky as the sea
—-Presto’s spell to turn an ancient galleon into a flying ship
Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, episode 28, “Requiem” (the unproduced script that was eventually turned into a radio play and comic)
good for Overland Flight or something similar
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Magic in the hat be free
Let us use the sky as the sea—-Presto’s spell to turn an ancient galleon into a flying ship
[tangent] Presto, or, more accurately, Presto's *hat,* was OP like crazy but Hank's bow was more reliably awesome. [/tangent]
Your fate I draw like card from harrow
Your body soon will fill a barrow
as to you wings this acid arrow.
[I'm too lazy to re-read this thread and see if I've done this one before...]
For using Summon Monster for any canine monster.
And I said,
Cry Havoc,
And Let Slip
The Dogs of War!
I have an elven wizard and when I prepare my spells, or gain new spells, I use a translator to create phrases in Tolkien elvish.
I think it really adds flavor when casting spells.
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Continuing along, my invocation-slinging wizard's spell list.
Reality Rend: Time Stop
"Time is an illusion, space is a lie. By the Seven Runes of Thassilon and the Eighth Rune Unwritten, I call upon the Worm that gnaws its tail. Coils of infinity, turn!"
The Fimbulwind: Cold Sirocco + Cold Tar Pool
Let the cold wind shatter their eyes, let the night wind steal their breath, let the ice wind harden their blood, let the dark wind blacken their limbs. Hoary Jötnar of bygone ages, unleash the Fimbul-Wind!
Solar Gate: Sunburst
"Solar orb, sightless, sleeping, chained in cloud and night, Awaken!"
Chain of Jupiter: Chain Lightning
"Jupiter rises ascendant, and dwells in the house of the Archer. To your base forms I assign the crown, the blade, the throne, the eagle... and chain them with the thunderbolt!"
Azlant's Doom: Tsunami
"Rime-ringed ocean, fathomless and black, lend me one of your children. I call upon Azlant's Doom!"
Hungering Flames: Disruptive Contagious Flames
"Spell-drinker, Heart-eater, never sated, never quenched. By the Secret Fire I bid thee, feast!"