CrAu 20
Req Aquam
base 3, +1 for cold winds, +2 voice, +1 Conc, +1 unnatural
This spell is similar to "Charge of the Angry Winds" except that the wind is very cold and there are small sharp shards of ice in it. The shards will cause minor damage to exposed flesh (light wound per round), but will be stopped by clothing. Any characters exposed to the wind will suffer the effects of chilling, prolonged exposure will result in clothing freezing and damaged flesh.
I'm not sure what the statistics are for being in a frozen gale, but I think this is a nice variation on the original spell.
How about a stamina roll every round to see if they lose a short-term fatigue level? After several rounds the person would fall unconscious...
After the first round there is a penalty to all vision rolls
After the second round a penalty to spoken words due to the cold (quiet voice penalty)
After the third round a penalty to gestures (subtle gestures penalty)
After the fourth round cannot talk (no words penalty)
After the fifth round cannot use arms (no gestures penalty)
After the spell has ended it takes 15 minutes of rest to recover from each round. If a small heat source is provided it takes half as long, if a larger heat source it takes a quarter.
e.g.
A gentle CrIg to heat the air around you will let you recover in half the time.
Sitting close to a fire will allow you to recover in a quarter of the time.
The idea of creativity should be in making new use of the Forms without breaking the game. I'm reminded of the "lava" spells of a recent-ish thread. Any spell "should" be about as dangerous as others of the same Form- any "exceptionally cold" spell might need an additional magnitude or two to simulate "unnatural" (to Mythic Europe) conditions.
And that reminds me of another, much older thread, where we discussed whether extreme weather effects should be gauged by the "standard" of the locale. Is a "freezing wind" spell in the Alps in winter more natural (ie, easier to cast/research) than one in southern Spain in summer?
Regardless of that consideration, as a rule no spell should be more powerful than what a mage "pays" for it, regardless of how clever or logical the rationale.
The equivalent PeCo starts at base 5, so if we bump this up as well, we end up with a level 30 CrAu effect?
Equivalent CrIg does +10 damage, but no mention of fatigue.
The coat of flame CrIg25 spell does +5 damage every round, which is more similar.
So if we alter the spell to cause a single +2 wound when the ice first hits, then a +2 wound every other round. And every round they roll to see if they lose fatigue due to the cold. Of course, wearing winter clothing will give a bonus to these rolls, and being naked will give a penalty.
Charge of the Icy winds CrAu 30
Req: Aquam
base 3, +2 for cold winds, +2 voice, +1 Conc, +1 unnatural, +1 Aq req
This spell is similar to "Charge of the Angry Winds" except that the wind is very cold and there are small sharp shards of ice in it. The shards will cause minor damage to exposed flesh (light wound on alternate rounds), but will be stopped by most clothing. Any characters exposed to the wind will suffer the effects of chilling, prolonged exposure will result in clothing freezing and damaged flesh.
Each round combatants within the gale have to make a stamina roll or lose a short-term stamina level. Warm protective clothing or something to shelter behind (e.g. a shield) gives a bonus to this roll.
First round: A -3 penalty to all vision rolls & a +2 light wound
Second round: A penalty to spoken words (quiet voice penalty)
Third round: A penalty to gestures (subtle gestures penalty) & a +2 light wound
Fourth round: Unable to form words (no words penalty)
Fifth round: Unable to use hands (no gestures penalty) & a +2 light wound
On every odd combat round after 5, another +2 wound is inflicted.
1st round: I'm okay with that. It makes good sense.
2nd round: Not okay with this. The warmest part of the body. Would be affected later. If you are saying that the Wind would affect it, it should be right off. If you are saying the cold would do this...I would have to disagree.
3rd round: Okay this is good. The extremities freeze first as heat is lost.
4th round: Again I do not agree.
5th round: this sounds right.
I would suggest as follows:
First round: A -3 penalty to all vision rolls & a +2 light wound
Second round: A penalty to gestures (subtle gestures penalty) & a +2 light wound
Third round: A penalty to spoken words (quiet voice penalty)
Fourth round: Unable to use hands (no gestures penalty) & a +2 light wound
Fifth round: Unable to form words (no words penalty)
Also: This spell is Concentration? Well, there should be an increasing damage curve to this as well. Beyond say round five, the damage suffered should jump up...but it should be cumlative..not on a round per round basis...
Yes, this spell is concentration. I didn't want it to be too powerful because it could cause a lot of damage to a group of people.
As for the speech penalty in round 2, I was thinking of the cold affecting their lips (e.g. going numb) and being unable to speak properly. But your suggestion works as well.
The light wounds, I was thinking that the ice is small, sharp and fragile, they may end up with lots of small cuts on their exposed face & hands, but their biggest problem is the cold.
To increase the power of the spell, without making it majorly powerful, how about this?
Each round the person is in the gale the difficulty of the stamina roll is increased by 1, so that even if they hold out for a few rounds, they will start to be affected.
OK. final version, if there are no problems with it, I'll put it in the grimoire
Charge of the Icy winds CrAu 30
Req: Aquam base 3, +2 for cold winds, +2 voice, +1 Conc, +1 unnatural, +1 Aq req
This spell is similar to "Charge of the Angry Winds" except that the wind is very cold and there are small sharp shards of ice in it. The shards will cause minor damage to exposed flesh (light wound on alternate rounds), but will be stopped by most clothing. Any characters exposed to the wind will suffer the effects of chilling, prolonged exposure will result in clothing freezing and damaged flesh.
Each round combatants within the gale have to make a stamina roll or lose a short-term stamina level. Warm protective clothing or something to shelter behind (e.g. a shield) gives a bonus to this roll.
Each round a person is in the wind the ease of the stamina roll is increased by 1.
First round: A -3 penalty to all vision rolls & a +2 light wound
Second round: A penalty to gestures (subtle gestures penalty) & a +2 light wound
Third round: A penalty to spoken words (quiet voice penalty)
Fourth round: Unable to use hands (no gestures penalty) & a +2 light wound
Fifth round: Unable to form words (no words penalty)
On every odd combat round after 5, another +2 wound is inflicted.
Sounds OK. I think it might be a little bit too high in magnitudes for what it dioes; some of the extra costs that you attach to it might not be that necessary. I have not checked the guidelines, though.
The requisite wouldn't be Ignem or Terram? I can't recall what happened to ice in this editrion, but it used to be a Terram effect. You could also make it abrasive using Ignem (perdo ignem for chilling wind)
No longer as simple as that. Iirc, if you're talking about the hardness of ice (like for a wall), then yes, Terram- if the coldness, then Ignem - all depends what aspect the spell embodies.
Here, Ignem should cover it, because the "cold" is what's important, tho' it might be a toss up.
(Can't find the reference in the book at first glance, tho' I was looking at it the other week. Any help? The 4th ed .pdf has spoiled me for such tasks!)
There is no need for any requisit. This is all purely natural effects. You are creating a hail storm coupled with high winds basically. The ice is not pernaturally sharp, the temperature is not pernaturally cold. High winds, cold air and hail are natural effects, so this is only a lvl 20 spell since there is nothing "unnatural" about it and there is absolutely no need for an aquam requist. Casting the spell inside a room would be unnatural mind you. The final level would depend on looking at the book again since I don't think the original calculation is done properly.
I'd toss out all the complicated effects with time though, anything less than shouting should be impossible in a windstorm, your vision is imediatly impaired and anything less than firm gestures likely to be hard to do if for no other reason then the constant battering by cold hail and general numbness brought on by the cold. Also there is no reason for clothing to stop hail, especially not hail being driven by gale force winds. Plus add a strength check to remain on your feet which the original spell has (if I am thinking of the right one).
Weather is weather at the end of the day and if it is weather then it is Auram and only Auram. you could do this with Ignem and Aquam but it would be right complicated CrAq(IgRe) create ice, move it and make it cold, but this would not have wind involved so that would require an Auram requisit...well actually this is absurd. You can only do this spell with Auram. You can do things similiar with other Forms but they are not the same. Its one of the cases where you can't skin the cat in many ways.
