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I'm looking for ideas to make some of my casters more unique. As part of that, I would like to make good use of spells that aren't seen very often.
I know a guy that used almost nothing except fireball, scorching ray, magic missile, and haste. With meta-magics to fill higher level slots. Of the umpteen bajillion spells in all the books, he pretty much only used those 4.
I have been using my casters as a demonstration of what else is possible. Since my characters have accomplished some things that completly surprised him, he is now starting to look at some of the other possibilities.
So I'm looking for some of the effective spells you have used that don't see much action by others. Even if it is only useful in a special niche build, I'd still like to know about. I'll start off with a few.
1) Truestrike
I think every beginner to the game looks at that and says 'Awesome!' But then they try to use it a few times and realize it is kinda meh. So no one ever uses it. So I spent a while trying to think of a way to make it work. I now have a magus(kensai) with a whip, the wand wielder arcana, and a wand of true strike. He can now trip or disarm virtually anything he encounters. People are amazed when I trip the spider or iron golem and disarm the APL+5 martial champion.
2) Pilfering Hand
My oracle absoluetly loves this spell. I almost never see anyone take this except the occasional arcane trickster, but I have quite literally saved our group with it many times.
Our flying archer got possessed. He got surprise and initiative almost killing 2 characters. Pilfering hand to steal his bow. Suddenly he is virtually no threat and we have plenty of time to figure out how to stop him without killing him.
Special BBEG with staff-like-wand and a special ability to use 2 wands every round. Lesser quicken rod and a regular cast of pilfering hand and he is suddenly almost no threat. His prepared spells were almost all defensive buffs already cast. The write-up relied on the wands for attack.
Took away divine focus from the negative channeler, took away the super mondo intelligent evil blade from the anti-paladin assassin, etc...
3) Endure Elements
Very few people ever take this unless they think they are going to the frozen poles or under a volcano. In which case it is probably such extreme temperature, it still doesn't help them. I have a character with the Magic Is Life Trait from worship of Nethys. So he virtually always has a +2 to save vs. death effects (which I expect to be very common in that AP). Plus getting all the wierd looks from wearing summer clothes in the middle of winter, is just a slight fun bonus.
4) Chain of Perdition
For a while we were encountering a lot of mounted opponents. The write-up had them built in such a way that they were really only dangerous because they were mounted.
A chain of perdition to either stop the mount or drag them off the mount (depending upon which I thought was more vulnerable to the spell). Suddenly, not such a tough encounter.
Any others you have found useful that people don't use too often?
Oh hell yes Pilfering Hand. Nice holy symbol you have there, evil cleric; mind if I borrow it? That's a pretty cool staff too; mind I get a closer look?
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1st level wiz: Bed of Iron - one target per level can sleep in armour wihtout getting fatigued. Useful occasionally.
Erase - in Rise of the Runelords, very useful to remove something from people who aren't quite as innocent as they should be...if you've played it you should know what I'm talking about, if not then you'll find out if you play it.
2nd level wiz: Create Treasure Map - Suppose you've just killed a dragon, but don't know where it's lair is? You have 23 hours to memorise this followed by its one hour casting time before the corpse is too old.
Share Memories - gain knowledge of where to teleport to from someone else.
3rd level wiz: Mad Monkeys and Rain of Frogs - because!
New: Channel the Gift - mostly so rarer casters can use unusual spells (eg Paladins) or to power eg a summoner's lower level spell instead of your own higher level version of a spell.
Heatstroke - better than Ray of Exhaustion; armoured types have -4 to their saves.
Shrink Item - for stealing enormous statues. Or the city gates...
Shadow Evocation/Conjuration. Because faking things is a lot better than you might think.
Keep watch. Because you can't get up early enough to get the drop on this party.
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Pilfering Hand only works if the foe doesn't have a replacement on hand. E.g. a cleric who lacks a back-up holy symbol deserves to fail. Still, when it works, it's great.
Here's another use of Truestrike: A Sylvan Sorcerer casts Truestrike on their axe beak animal companion (possible with Share Spells); axe beak now charges and auto-trips any foe, absent a natural 1.
Regarding Endure Elements: A first level Cleric can have this spell Always On without burning a spell slot on an adventuring day. Always carry one first level Open Spell Slot. Each night, just before retiring for the night, prepare and cast Endure Elements. On those rare days in which you actually prepare another spell in your Open first level Spell Slot you make plans to borrow a jacket for the next day ...
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Shrink Item is an interesting and effective spell. Locked door in your way? Huge, valuable art item in that dragon horde? Grand piano need moving?
Pugwampi's Grace is nice if you can get it past the target's will save..
And another vote for Pilfering Hand. My wizard in Shattered Star made constant use of that little darling.. There's always something, somewhere, in a combat which is better in your hand than in its original owner's possession.
So far we have
- 01) Truestrike - Wand wielder trip & disarm also animal companion trip
- 02) Pilfering Hand - steal weapons, wands, staves, divine focus, component pouch
- 03) Endure Elements - with Magic is life for +2 vs death for 24 hours also almost free for a day if you cast it just before daily preparations
- 04) Chain of Perdition - stop mounted attacks
- 05) Aqueous Orb
- 06) Wall of Fire & Communal Resist Enenrgy - (not sure this counts as uncommon though)
- 07) Bed of Iron - sleep in armor
- 08) Erase - in Rise of Rune Lords
- 09) Treasure Map - find the dragon's horde after it's dead
- 10) Share Memories & Teleport - to learn teleport site (I never though of this use)
- 11) Mad Monkeys - (not sure if this is rare since I see it suggested all the time)
- 12) Rain of Frogs - (never seen this one used)
- 13) Channel the Gift -
- 14) Heat Stroke -
- 15) Shrink Item - shrink locked doors or for big loot
- 16) Burning Disarm -
- 17) Blood Money - (not sure if this is rare since I see it suggested all the time)
- 18) Embrace Destiny - save you natural 20 for later
- 19) Phantom Trap - slow down pursuit
- 20) Shadow Evoc/Conj - faking things is fun
- 21) Pugwampi's Grace -
Any more?
Call the void: It does a lot of things, some of which work without a save. My best usage of it has been to keep a demi-lich from casting anything meaningful by following him around and staying adjacent to him.
Summon Swarm, has a longer duration than any other low level summoning spell and swarms can be used to distract enemies. And to make things better, bats have blindsense 20ft, rats have scent and the spiders have tremorsense 30ft.
Hidden creatures nearby? Summon a swarm and let them run around and find them for you.
Floating Disk, around level 6 having a melee character ride this into battle is freaking awesome.
Unseen Servant, useful to have go first down corridors, but really good in combination with Grease on weapons or a disarm maneuver to pick up and carry off the dropped weapon.
Reduce Person, much better as a potion, but it improves your Touch AC by 2. My sorcerer carries one in his gold compartment holy symbol. (Which will be awesome with False Focus, once he gets it.)
False Life, not sure if it qualifies as uncommon, temporary HP that last 1 hour/level will keep you alive often enough to be worth the slot(s) you use.
Delay Poison, this is effective poison immunity until you can safely deal with it.
Lesser Restoration, a very good wand spell, this will let a barbarian rage cycle as long as someone is there to cast this every round (hence the wand.)
Spiritual Weapon, I have never found a spell this low level that bothers enemy casters as much as one of these, much more annoying if you focus on it and throw Toppling Spell and Disruptive Spell on it.
So far we have
- 01) Truestrike - Wand wielder trip & disarm also animal companion trip
- 02) Pilfering Hand - steal weapons, wands, staves, divine focus, component pouch
- 03) Endure Elements - with Magic is life for +2 vs death for 24 hours also almost free for a day if you cast it just before daily preparations
- 04) Chain of Perdition - stop mounted attacks
- 05) Aqueous Orb
- 06) Wall of Fire & Communal Resist Enenrgy - (not sure this counts as uncommon though)
- 07) Bed of Iron - sleep in armor
- 08) Erase - in Rise of Rune Lords
- 09) Treasure Map - find the dragon's horde after it's dead
- 10) Share Memories & Teleport - to learn teleport site (I never though of this use)
- 11) Mad Monkeys - (not sure if this is rare since I see it suggested all the time)
- 12) Rain of Frogs - (never seen this one used)
- 13) Channel the Gift -
- 14) Heat Stroke -
- 15) Shrink Item - shrink locked doors or for big loot
- 16) Burning Disarm -
- 17) Blood Money - (not sure if this is rare since I see it suggested all the time)
- 18) Embrace Destiny - save you natural 20 for later
- 19) Phantom Trap - slow down pursuit
- 20) Shadow Evoc/Conj - faking things is fun
- 21) Pugwampi's Grace -
- 22) Call the Void -
- 23) Summon Swarm - locate invisible enemies (never thought of that use)
- 24) Foe Hammer - pound on the bad guys with the bad guys
- 25) Floating Disk - melee char ride into battle
- 26) Unseen Servant - to run off with disarmed weapons
- 27) Reduce Person - potion to improve touch AC
- 28) Delay Poison - limited duration immunity until can deal with it
- 29) Lesser Restoration - rage cycle barbarian
- 30) Spiritual Weapon w/ Toppling Spell and Disruptive Spell - distract casters
Any more?
I wouldn't call shadow conj/ evoc. uncommon. Less common than in 3.5 where odd rules could make them amazing but they're still the go-to spells for sorcerers needing one spell to cover many situations.
Air Bubble is a level 1 spell which lets you operate underwater. Not sure whether it's uncommon, true.
Admonishing ray is a force attack spell (so works with toppling spell) and having a nonlethal option is handy.
Bestow Insight works just fine on yourself and makes skills so much more reliable.
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Vomit Swarm is a bit better than Summon Swarm as casting time/you can control the swarm but not a Wizard spell I think.
Here is some more I thought of, again not sure how uncommon this stuff is...
Ant Haul, cast it on a mount and watch its load go down and speed go up, even carrying someone in heavy armor.
Touch of Truthtelling out of Gods & Magic is like a zone of truth that actually works.
Liberating Command is great for getting people out of grapples, just be sure to target people who can make the check.
Marid's Mastery is Undine only and it is written to suggest it is a buff, but in reality it is a massive debuff 90% of the time.
Grace, this one is really good for action economy as it takes a swift action to cast and it makes your movement not provoke AoOs. I have used it both to get in place for a desperate Cure spell as well as to charge up to large or bigger creatures without provoking.
Silence, I used to see this more back in the day so I'll include it. Cast it on an arrow that your archer buddy is readying to shoot at sentries, you can speak freely again and unless they roll very low, the target gets hit with an arrow with Silence on it, and usually the target is too panicked to realize the Silence is cast on the arrow and not on them. Then you finish them off at range and keep sneaking.
Crafter's Fortune, I have no idea why more people don't use this one.
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I don't know how common Liberating Command is but the cleric in one of my campaigns had a lot of fun with this.
The best use was when the queen's adviser turned out to secretly be a vampire. He revealed this by suddenly spinning around and grabbing the paladin by the throat. Since it's an immediate action, the cleric used it to interrupt his villain speech and make him drop the paladin who five-foot stepped back (he was a bowadin) and full-round smote him to death.
It basically saved the paladin's life and made the GM cry.
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Phantasmal Web can end whole encounters. It's subject to saves and an illusion, sure, but anyone who fails the save is effectively webbed...except they can't cut or burn their way free, since the web isn't real, and they must save every round or be nauseated. And it never hits your friends, since it's not technically an area effect...just one that targets 1 person per level. Terrifying on a dedicated Illusionist.
Love barrel of monkeys spell. :)
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I haven't seen anyone mention burst of radiance from Champions of Purity. Amazing spell.
1d4/level (max 5d4) untyped damage in an AoE, with no save against the damage. Downside is it only deals the damage to evil creatures.
Additionally, against creatures of any alignment, they have to make a Reflex save or be blinded for 1d4 rounds. So much for clerics and druids always making their saves against glitterdust, eh?
Loathsome Veil - 3rd level spell (get as 5th level wizard) and can nauseated creatures up to 8 HD. That is a brutal condition for an AE. This spell can also end fights in one shot. HA, take that 4th level Black Tentacles.
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Marid's Mastery is Undine only and it is written to suggest it is a buff, but in reality it is a massive debuff 90% of the time.
Hehe, I have an undine cleric in PFS, and I'm seriously considering taking Magical Lineage and Reach Spell just so I can shoot martials with the suck-beam. :D
Marid's Mastery is Undine only and it is written to suggest it is a buff, but in reality it is a massive debuff 90% of the time.Hehe, I have an undine cleric in PFS, and I'm seriously considering taking Magical Lineage and Reach Spell just so I can shoot martials with the suck-beam. :D
Yeah when looking at what race to play for a witch and the new racial spells, I was shocked at how many the Undine got compared to everyone else except the Half-Elf. The real kick in the pants is that they're mostly really good too. The Half-Elf ones were more situational.
Vomit Swarm is a bit better than Summon Swarm as casting time/you can control the swarm but not a Wizard spell I think.
Vomit Swarm is also pretty good, but it has a few drawbacks compared to summon swarm:
1) Duration is round/level, Summon Swarm is Concentration + 2 rounds.
2) Only summons spiders at low levels, so you dont get the option to use scent or blindsense, only tremorsense.
The advantages are that you will get wasps or ants at higher level and you dont need to concentrate all the time to control it.
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Lesser Restoration, a very good wand spell, this will let a barbarian rage cycle as long as someone is there to cast this every round (hence the wand.)Nope. Casting time is 3 rounds. I guess you could have three people casting it in relay?
Not on a wand.
Spell Trigger: Spell trigger activation is similar to spell completion, but it's even simpler. No gestures or spell finishing is needed, just a special knowledge of spellcasting that an appropriate character would know, and a single word that must be spoken. Spell trigger items can be used by anyone whose class can cast the corresponding spell. This is the case even for a character who can't actually cast spells, such as a 3rd-level paladin. The user must still determine what spell is stored in the item before she can activate it. Activating a spell trigger item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
The 1st level bard spell Invigorate is a much better option for rage cycling, removing all penalties for fatigue and exhaustion for 10 min/level.
I dont think that works. Invigorate allows you to ignore the penalties for fatigue. You would still have the condition and therefore could not rage.
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Lesser Restoration, a very good wand spell, this will let a barbarian rage cycle as long as someone is there to cast this every round (hence the wand.)Nope. Casting time is 3 rounds. I guess you could have three people casting it in relay?
The 1st level bard spell Invigorate is a much better option for rage cycling, removing all penalties for fatigue and exhaustion for 10 min/level.
That doesn't work either (though it's still nice for Barbarians to remove the penalties). It removes the penalties, not the condition, and that means they still can't Rage while fatigued.
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Not on a wand.Lesser Restoration, a very good wand spell, this will let a barbarian rage cycle as long as someone is there to cast this every round (hence the wand.)Nope. Casting time is 3 rounds. I guess you could have three people casting it in relay?
You didnt put the entire section:
Activation: Wands use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a wand is usually a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast has a longer casting time than 1 action, however, it takes that long to cast the spell from a wand.) To activate a wand, a character must hold it in hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for non-humanoid creatures) and point it in the general direction of the target or area. A wand may be used while grappling or while swallowed whole.
From the PFS Field Guide there's this arcane level 2 spell (the only spell to ever prompt me to play a caster): Archives of Nethys' Lipstitch.
Oh, you've a bit attack? Fort save or no more bites!
Oh, you cast verbal spells? Fort save or hope you've a way to make them silent!
Also does trivial damage.
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Not on a wand.Lesser Restoration, a very good wand spell, this will let a barbarian rage cycle as long as someone is there to cast this every round (hence the wand.)Nope. Casting time is 3 rounds. I guess you could have three people casting it in relay?You didnt put the entire section:
Activation: Wands use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a wand is usually a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast has a longer casting time than 1 action, however, it takes that long to cast the spell from a wand.) To activate a wand, a character must hold it in hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for non-humanoid creatures) and point it in the general direction of the target or area. A wand may be used while grappling or while swallowed whole.
Well, [insert expletive here]. I quoted the description of Spell Trigger items, I must have overlooked the line on the wands description that wands don't follow the rules for spell trigger items despite being the most common spell trigger item in the game.
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Not sure how common it is to everyone else, but my Druid lived on Aqueous Orb for his life span. Damage or Drowning are whatever, But the ability to move someone around is killer, I could not tell you how many people got rolled off cliffs or out windows.
Apparently I made the same mistake as Imbicatus, so I can't Quicken it and a wand of it is useless. I really really hate casting times of more than a standard action!!!
So far we have:
(Since the list is getting larger, I decided to drop the ones that are common. Let me know if you think I’m wrong.)
- 01) Truestrike - Wand wielder trip & disarm also animal companion trip
- 02) Pilfering Hand - steal weapons, wands, staves, divine focus, component pouch, headband
- 03) Endure Elements - with Magic is life for +2 vs death for 24 hours also almost free for a day if you cast it just before daily preparations
- 04) Chain of Perdition - stop mounted attacks
- 05) Aqueous Orb
- 06) Bed of Iron - sleep in armor
- 07) Erase - in Rise of Rune Lords
- 08) Treasure Map - find the dragon's horde after it's dead
- 09) Share Memories & Teleport - to learn teleport site (I never thought of this use)
- 10) Mad Monkeys - (kept this since I see it suggested a lot, but rarely used)
- 11) Rain of Frogs - (never seen this one used)
- 12) Channel the Gift -
- 13) Heat Stroke -
- 14) Shrink Item - shrink locked doors or for big loot
- 15) Burning Disarm -
- 16) Embrace Destiny - save you natural 20 for later
- 17) Phantom Trap - slow down pursuit
- 18) Pugwampi's Grace -
- 19) Call the Void -
- 20) Summon or Vomit Swarm - locate invisible enemies (never thought of that use)
- 21) Foe Hammer - pound on the bad guys with the bad guys
- 22) Floating Disk - melee char ride into battle
- 23) Unseen Servant - to run off with disarmed weapons
- 24) Reduce Person - potion to improve touch AC
- 25) Spiritual Weapon w/ Toppling Spell and Disruptive Spell - distract casters
- 26) Air Bubble – low level underwater operations
- 27) Admonishing Ray – nonlethal force effect
- 28) Bestow Insight – make skill checks easier (human only)
- 29) Touch of Truthtelling – (not familiar with this one)
- 30) Liberating Command – grab is so common you would think more people would take this
- 31) Marid’s Mastery – debuff (undine only)
- 32) Silence – this is odd to me it’s a iconic, great, and useful spell that I almost never see anyone but me take
- 33) Grace – swift to not get AoO
- 34) Phantasmal Web – can be used within the party
- 35) Burst of Radiance – damage and a reflex glitterdust
- 36) Loathsome Veil – AoE nauseated
- 37) Lipstitch - stop bites and casters
Any more?
Lets get some more stuff on here.
Ill Omen, if you have never played a Witch or Hexcrafter you might not realize the awesomeness that is this spell. Possibly the best wand to give an improved familiar.
Blood Transcription, Don't get me started on how blood drinking is only evil unless it isn't, but this spell should see more use and probably would without the evil descriptor.
Pox Pustules, targets fort so not as widely useful as other debuffs, but great against quick little things.
Brew Potion, Blood Money, Tattoo Potion, Transfer Tattoo, Lesser Restoration: This is a process for making Spell Tattoos at level 3 without Inscribe Magical Tattoo, though it usually takes 2 casters cooperating because only a Witch has those 5 spells on the spell list.
Fabricate, do you like money?
Blur, because Hide in Plain Sight is high level and you're not.
Compassionate Ally, this will take a fighter out of the fight with 1 save no reroll, so a good alternative to Hideous Laughter or Hold Person.
EDIT: Brew Potion is a feat not a spell, I need more caffeine.
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Glibness is great, but I almost never see it used since it's the same level as Haste. It the spell you need when you need to convince the stormtroopers these are not the droids you're looking for.
God yes, though I've seen it used a bit more. Best combined with Pageant of the Peacock for utter ridiculousness.
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Call the void: It does a lot of things, some of which work without a save. My best usage of it has been to keep a demi-lich from casting anything meaningful by following him around and staying adjacent to him.
Call the void is a nice spell, but I'm sorry to say that usage doesn't work at all.
Spell Resistance yes
Immunity to Magic (Su)
A demilich is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance.
Also, many of the demilich's abilities don't require it to speak.
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01) Truestrike - Wand wielder trip & disarm also animal companion trip
02) Pilfering Hand - steal weapons, wands, staves, divine focus, component pouch, headband
03) Endure Elements - with Magic is life for +2 vs death for 24 hours also almost free for a day if you cast it just before daily preparations
04) Chain of Perdition - stop mounted attacks
05) Aqueous Orb
06) Bed of Iron - sleep in armor
07) Erase - in Rise of Rune Lords
08) Treasure Map - find the dragon's horde after it's dead
09) Share Memories & Teleport - to learn teleport site (I never thought of this use)
10) Mad Monkeys - (kept this since I see it suggested a lot, but rarely used)
11) Rain of Frogs - (never seen this one used)
12) Channel the Gift -
13) Heat Stroke -
14) Shrink Item - shrink locked doors or for big loot
15) Burning Disarm -
16) Embrace Destiny - save you natural 20 for later
17) Phantom Trap - slow down pursuit
18) Pugwampi's Grace -
19) Call the Void -
20) Summon or Vomit Swarm - locate invisible enemies (never thought of that use)
21) Foe Hammer - pound on the bad guys with the bad guys
22) Floating Disk - melee char ride into battle
23) Unseen Servant - to run off with disarmed weapons
24) Reduce Person - potion to improve touch AC
25) Spiritual Weapon w/ Toppling Spell and Disruptive Spell - distract casters
26) Air Bubble – low level underwater operations
27) Admonishing Ray – nonlethal force effect
28) Bestow Insight – make skill checks easier (human only)
29) Touch of Truthtelling – (not familiar with this one)
30) Liberating Command – grab is so common you would think more people would take this
31) Marid’s Mastery – debuff (undine only)
32) Silence – this is odd to me it’s a iconic, great, and useful spell that I almost never see anyone but me take
33) Grace – swift to not get AoO
34) Phantasmal Web – can be used within the party
35) Burst of Radiance – damage and a reflex glitterdust
36) Loathsome Veil – AoE nauseated
37) Lipstitch - stop bites and casters
38) Glibness - "these are not the droids you're looking for" esp with Pageant of the Peacock
39) Ill Omen - wand for familiar
40) Blood Transcription - evil but good
41) Brew Potion, Blood Money, Tattoo Potion, Transfer Tattoo, and Lesser Restoration - make spell tattoos without Inscribe Magical Tattoo
42) Fabricate - we've used this some, but maybe other groups have not
43) Blur - I used to see this a lot, but not recently
44) Compassionate Ally - fighter not fighting anymore
I've never executed this combo, but I've always wanted to see it in action: Reckless Infatuation on one enemy, followed by Unadulterated Loathing on another.
I love this idea!
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I play in a pirate campaign, and Animate Rope is amazing. Whoops! There go your sails!
Until 5th level, Expeditious Retreat is superior to Jump. +30' speed means +12 to jump checks. (After 5th level, who needs Jump, anyway?)
I once accelerated a plot and practically caused the downfall of a major temple through judicious use (in 2e) of Dissension's Feast, Goodberry, and Sanctuary. Dissension's Feast makes anyone who partakes to start getting mad with others. Goodberry was passed around to the PCs so that they didn't have to eat. And Sanctuary was for when the Red Wedding started, so I could leave unaccosted.