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Command (Enchantment/Charm)
This spell enables the caster to issue a command of a single word.
The command must be uttered in a language which the spell recipient
is able to understand. The individual will obey to the best of his/her
ability. Typical command words are: back, halt, flee, run, stop,
fall, fly, go, leave, surrender, sleep, rest, etc.
It's the 'etc.' that scares me.
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I thought of Sow Thought, but isn't that one on the witch list and not wizard? Did I just miss it?Enlarge Person would work well in the NFL or NBA as well.With the Dex penalty and reduced to hit, that's debatable, at least for some of us.
Put me in the camp of "If Cantrips allowed, Prestadigitation". Flavoring things alone would be worth it. The other stuff would just be awesome.
If I were evil, Grease(as mentioned for pranking) or Bungle(for same). If I wanted to be able to change the world by playing the long game, and assuming the RL GM let me take another race's spell, I'd probably go with Sow Thought. Honestly, I think played shrewdly and over a long period of time, that one has way more possibility for abuse than Charm Person.
But naturally, I'd never, ever abuse it. No sir, not me.
SRD says Bard, Sorcerer/Wizard, Witch.
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If we're sticking to wiz/sorc list, then I'd probably go with unseen servant. He'd be great for maintaining that immaculate appearance of my kitchen after I've made a big meal or a pot of soup stock, and 20 pounds is enough capacity to carry a lightly loaded backpack, or even an umbrella in the rain. He can get the door when I'm holding heavy groceries, and he can completely replace "the clapper" when it's time for lights out. the applications for an (effectively) unlimited duration unseen servant are legion.
One other big contender for me is expeditious excavation.
-Landscaping? Draw me a picture and gimme five minutes. Ten, tops.
-Secret tunnels below your house? Have fun with your new labyrinth; you won't even disturb the sewage lines.
-Swift retribution to the jerk who pushed you into the mud? THIS. IS. SPARTAAAA!!!
-Foundation settling and cracking the floor? Not in MY house!
-Mom wants a new flowerbed? Snap your fingers and it's happy Mother's Day.
-Car stuck in the mud? Fill in the puddles and off you go!
-SAND castles? Pfffft. That is SO last century.
-Ever own a dirtbike? ever want bigger ramps? YOU'RE WELCOME.
No dirty fingernails, no sunburn, no sore knees, and no noisy power tools pissing off the neighbors. Mankind wants to reshape the earth? This is your spell, my friend.
Magic missile. For two reasons. First:
1. People.
And...
b. I cast it at the darkness.
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Comprehend language would be really sweet, though I don't know how often it would be needed so it's usefulness is very institutional.
Charm Person has the potential to be the most useful, but not only is it immoral (I don't care what Breeze thinks about it), it's also risky - the potential of someone making their save and being very angry at me is not something I wish to expose myself to.
I don't think I have any use for any of the offensive spells.
Unseen servant sounds like the most useful of the bunch, in that it DOES have some wonderful everyday applications.
Having said all those things... the two that sound the most *fun* are feather fall and jump (isn't expeditious retreat also a 1st level spell? it also sounds great). I'm kind of a clumsy guy, and so the idea of the freedom of movement that those spells promise sounds just way to sweet for me to pass on, given the chance.
Feather Fall requires me to fall, which I don't plan on doing often - Jump only requires me to, well, want to jump.
I think I'll go with Jump.
Charm person. Always and forever.
It's not for affecting people you know - that's dangerous and stupid. It's what you use to make a magnificent first impression everywhere you go, get the very best service at restaurants, the unemployment office, to calm down dangerous situations, to make the cops relaxed, and so on and so forth. Everyone you DON'T know is fair game. If the effect ends and they are still relevant in your life, all they will assume is that they just liked you for some reason. Of course, you'd have to put in the effort to make that seem likely.
Rename it "create first impression"
Unseen servant. Spam
"Ok guys, start turning those generators.
Oh yeah... I should add that if, by some means, they manage their Will saves against charm person, all that really gives them is six seconds until the next one hits.
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Command (Enchantment/Charm)
This spell enables the caster to issue a command of a single word.
The command must be uttered in a language which the spell recipient
is able to understand. The individual will obey to the best of his/her
ability. Typical command words are: back, halt, flee, run, stop,
fall, fly, go, leave, surrender, sleep, rest, etc.It's the 'etc.' that scares me.
Back when it was open-ended like that, we'd try to think of fun one word commands, like vomit or disrobe, that would take a foe out of commission for multiple rounds.
(Flee is the only one left that has that potential, as a foe might spend a round fleeing, and then lose another round coming back, and, if the caster positions himself well before casting, provoke assorted attacks of opportunity while fleeing.)
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What are they going to do? Claim that I used magic on them? =)
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If we're sticking to wiz/sorc list, then I'd probably go with unseen servant. He'd be great for maintaining that immaculate appearance of my kitchen after I've made a big meal or a pot of soup stock, and 20 pounds is enough capacity to carry a lightly loaded backpack, or even an umbrella in the rain. He can get the door when I'm holding heavy groceries, and he can completely replace "the clapper" when it's time for lights out. the applications for an (effectively) unlimited duration unseen servant are legion.
One other big contender for me is expeditious excavation.
-Landscaping? Draw me a picture and gimme five minutes. Ten, tops.
-Secret tunnels below your house? Have fun with your new labyrinth; you won't even disturb the sewage lines.
-Swift retribution to the jerk who pushed you into the mud? THIS. IS. SPARTAAAA!!!
-Foundation settling and cracking the floor? Not in MY house!
-Mom wants a new flowerbed? Snap your fingers and it's happy Mother's Day.
-Car stuck in the mud? Fill in the puddles and off you go!
-SAND castles? Pfffft. That is SO last century.
-Ever own a dirtbike? ever want bigger ramps? YOU'RE WELCOME.No dirty fingernails, no sunburn, no sore knees, and no noisy power tools pissing off the neighbors. Mankind wants to reshape the earth? This is your spell, my friend.
Lord, my sides
No Vanish? Especially if I cat as higher than 1st.
I see what you did there.
Damn... He would have to make sure he doesn't get xp eventually. That would mean not killing any more goblins, of course... but not gaining story xp and roleplaying xp? That is just harsh...
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I'm surprised nobody mentioned this, unless I missed something (all boys around here, huh?)
CAUSE FEAR.
Would-be rapists, intruders, kidnappers, stray dogs on my favourite jogging path, generally ill-intentioned creatures, BEGONE!!!
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Back when it was open-ended like that, we'd try to think of fun one word commands, like vomit or disrobe, that would take a foe out of commission for multiple rounds.
Back in the days of Vampire the Masquerade, the first level of Dominate was a one-word command of any verb the target could comprehend. In one episode high up in a skyscraper, the PC said to his opponent "Did you know? 'Defenstrate' means to hurl oneself out of a window. And also, DEFENSTRATE."
As for my spell choice? "Predict Stock Market". At one hour advance notification per level, I should be able to get massive returns on my investment, very quickly.
Hey, the OP just said "Wizard spell". He said NOTHING about custom wizard spells.
I'm surprised nobody mentioned this, unless I missed something (all boys around here, huh?)
CAUSE FEAR.
Would-be rapists, intruders, kidnappers, stray dogs on my favourite jogging path, generally ill-intentioned creatures, BEGONE!!!
As there are many different reactions for fear, I do suspect that spell might work differently in reality.
AARRGH! KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT!
True strike. Professional athlete, Master assassin take your pick.
I'm surprised nobody mentioned this, unless I missed something (all boys around here, huh?)
CAUSE FEAR.
Would-be rapists, intruders, kidnappers, stray dogs on my favourite jogging path, generally ill-intentioned creatures, BEGONE!!!As there are many different reactions for fear, I do suspect that spell might work differently in reality.
AARRGH! KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT!
That's usually my response to irrational fear.
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Command (Enchantment/Charm)
This spell enables the caster to issue a command of a single word.
The command must be uttered in a language which the spell recipient
is able to understand. The individual will obey to the best of his/her
ability. Typical command words are: back, halt, flee, run, stop,
fall, fly, go, leave, surrender, sleep, rest, etc.It's the 'etc.' that scares me.
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You mean like Disrobe, Jump, Drink, or Kill?
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I'm surprised nobody mentioned this, unless I missed something (all boys around here, huh?)
CAUSE FEAR.
Would-be rapists, intruders, kidnappers, stray dogs on my favourite jogging path, generally ill-intentioned creatures, BEGONE!!!
Cause fear is an odd one. It's not an enchantment, it's necromancy, which means it *might* use negative energy (and most likely affects life-force, in some manner).
If that's the case, it's bringing negative energy into the world, and might end up inviting undead to tag along or resulting in crop failures, birth defects, etc. as it taints the world (a common 'reason' why necromancy is evil), and even if it doesn't do that, it might function by killing brain cells (since that's the kind of thing necromancy does, instead of 'making people have feelings,' which is the kind of thing *enchantment* does). For some of those, assuming that one lives the sort of life that involves kidnappers (I'm not rich, so I'll never encounter such a thing...), that's probably not much of a downside, but using it to scare away stray dogs might be a bit overkill.
"Ha! Get off the path or I'll give you brain damage!"
If there's even a ghost of a chance that necromancy could cause undead to form or corrupt the world, if used too much, I think I'd skip it.
I'm surprised nobody mentioned this, unless I missed something (all boys around here, huh?)
CAUSE FEAR.
Would-be rapists, intruders, kidnappers, stray dogs on my favourite jogging path, generally ill-intentioned creatures, BEGONE!!!Cause fear is an odd one. It's not an enchantment, it's necromancy, which means it *might* use negative energy (and most likely affects life-force, in some manner).
If that's the case, it's bringing negative energy into the world, and might end up inviting undead to tag along or resulting in crop failures, birth defects, etc. as it taints the world (a common 'reason' why necromancy is evil), and even if it doesn't do that, it might function by killing brain cells (since that's the kind of thing necromancy does, instead of 'making people have feelings,' which is the kind of thing *enchantment* does). For some of those, assuming that one lives the sort of life that involves kidnappers (I'm not rich, so I'll never encounter such a thing...), that's probably not much of a downside, but using it to scare away stray dogs might be a bit overkill.
"Ha! Get off the path or I'll give you brain damage!"
If there's even a ghost of a chance that necromancy could cause undead to form or corrupt the world, if used too much, I think I'd skip it.
Well, I could also burninghand them or magicmissile them, but that could get me in a lot of trouble IRL... All things considered, simply scaring the s**t out of them seems the most sensible alternative to me ;-)
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Honestly I think it's more because Cause Fear is seen as such a subpar spell in the game, most of us didn't even consider it for a spell we'd want to have on-hand IRL.
I've never had a character who used it (even a Necromancer) and it didn't even come to mind.