New Spell Ideas for a Super-spy dimension

[darthauthor]

I made up so spells I want to include in my next adventure. I am not certain about how much PPE they should cost or what level they should be.

The theme is action adventure with a 70s-80s vibe feel and a cross between BTS and Ninjas and Superspies.

Magic is a secret that few know is real and even fewer can practice. The few that can are recruited and have developed spells for adventures like a 007 spy movie.

New Spell Ideas:

I am undecided about what level these invocation spells should be. I wrote them up as invocations spells the players discover in an alternate dimension. Most of them were thought of for a spy adventure. On this alternate Earth (have not decided if it will be something like BTS but maybe a cross between that style and Ninjas and Superspies) I wrote up a campaign in with a secret intelligence organization was out to stop a house led by magic users. A story with a touch of CS vs Tolkeen but with a 1970s era style.

Refit clothing
Range: touch or 10 feet.
Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: None
P.P.E. Cost: Undecided

This spell was devised for those who need a quick change of clothes or need to wear the clothes someone else is wearing so it will fit the one who is trying to impersonate them. The spell transforms clothes to perfectly fit the size of those who are wearing or holding them.
In the espionage business an agent might sneak into a place and quickly knock out a guard. They want to disguise themselves as the guard but don't have the time to buy or make a guard's uniform in their size. This is where a casting of this spell turns the unconscious guard’s clothes to a perfect size for them or another. The magic will shrink or grow existing clothes (and shoes/boots) to fit the one the caster intends to wear it. The caster must be able to see the wearer (a mirror for themselves) or the fit will be off.
By pumping additional PPE into the spell the caster can change the colors, material and style of the clothes. In an emergency this spell is great when you need boots or to repair boots, cold weather clothing, scuba diver suit, or leather body armor. This spell can effectively repair whole in shoes and tears in clothing.


Magical Disguise
Range: touch or 10 feet.
Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: None if willing; standard if not.
P.P.E. Cost: Undecided
The spell temporarily disguises the facial features and/or hair of the person on whom it is cast.
The spell can be made permanent at the cost of # PPE.
This spell is a compliment to the spell refit clothing. The disguise spell can give one the face and hair of someone else as refit clothing gives you their clothes and footwear. Note, the spell does nothing to change the character voice, signature, scent, height, etc. Nor does it give the character special abilities. Disguising oneself as an elf does not give night vision or racial abilities.

Electronic Invisibility.
Range: touch
Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: None
P.P.E. Cost: Undecided
The spell makes the one on whom it is cast invisible to electronic detection. Digital cameras, CC surveillance systems, tape recorders, night vision goggles, infrared scopes, droids, robots, power armor systems, bionic/cybernetic eyes and ears are all made deaf and blind to the recipient of this spell. Note: the character can be seen with the naked eye and heard with normal hearing. They also leave footprints behind as well as fingerprints, scent, etc. Also, old cameras that operate by chemicals instead of digital memory can still photograph the person. The spell affects the character and everything they are wearing and carrying so long as it is no bigger than their own person. Robots and those with bionic eyes and ears can still attempt to strike the electronically invisible person but with the penalties of being blind and/or deaf. Unlike other invisibility spells, the character who is electronically invisible may attack without ending the spell. Doing so, however, may give away their location as lasers leave a trail, gun fire can be heard even though the character cannot be. If the spell is cast directly on a robot it will effectively make the robot blind and deaf to everything. Likewise, a security camera will see only static if cast upon it. The spell can be ended by the caster at any time before it ends. Also, the spell will end if the caster dies.

Magic Explosives
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant; Stays explosive for 1 hour per level of the caster
Saving Throw: None
P.P.E. Cost:
Terrorist, Freedom fighters, and intelligence operatives experience a need for explosives (in one form or another) in places, where they still have to plant them, to “go off” later (letting them make safe get away and helping them to stay as anonymous as anyone else who was there or passed through the area before the explosion).
Unlike a spell that blasts a bolt or throws a ball from the magic user's hands the whole point of this spell is for there to be an explosion in the not too distant future. Also, the explosives don’t appear out of thin air. They are not summoned or conjured, rather everyday items are temporarily transformed into something that burns or blows up.
Note: Like real explosives, these transmuted objects can be detected/discovered (through normal bomb detection methods and Sixth Sense should also alert those within the area of effect) after the spell is cast. If the object is studied with see aura and compared with an identical item or the view knows what the objects aura is normally they can see that the object is charged with PPE.
This spell is a way for someone to turn mundane items into explosives (of a sort):

Bottle/glass of water into a molotov cocktail
Canteen into a hand grenade (1D6x10 S.D.C.) damage to a radius of 10 feet (3 m).
Chewing gum or toothpaste into plastic explosives
Flashlight into a pipe bomb
Loaf of bread or dough (If eaten it will taste bad and make you sick - save vs poison) into C4
Candle into dynomite (1D4x10 S.D.C. per candle, 7 foot (2 meters) radius)
Salt/Tabasco sauce/Pepper: White Smoke/tear gas/knockout gas

The magic can NEVER turn material into an explosive that produces biological, chemical, radioactive, or nuclear material (unless they were already being cast on something like plutonium, then you would get a micro nuke). All damage is a result of magical energy that creates the force and fire (if there is any). There are no dirty after effects. The use of CSI on the scene of the explosion or Forensics on the bodies of those wounded or killed will show no trace materials of anything other than the starting substance (water, toothpaste, etc). The use of such skills may reveal the location of the center of the explosion.
Note: IF cast on something that is already an explosive the spell will not change it and the PPE is lost in the casting. This would be like trying to convert polluted water to clean water and starting with pure water. It doesn’t make the water purer. So the spell won’t make explosives stronger.
When the bomb goes off the explosive damage is released PPE which must be stored in the substance plus the initial cost of the spell. ALL the PPE must be put up front in the casting of the spell. The PPE cannot be taken out of the newly made explosive substance but the caster can diffuse the explosive at will so long as it is within the casters range. Also, negate magic/spell will release the magic energy harmlessly instead of anything exploding.
The caster may pump additional PPE into the spell to make it delay longer or do more damage. However, such items will be detectable as having high PPE to those who can sense PPE or read the aura of the object. The spell never works on living things such as a live plant, animal or person. It can work on dead beings though, like the corpse for a rabbit or the body part of a person. Also, if the transformed explosive material is shot or set on fire it will blow up.

To properly use these “explosives” the demolition skill is not required but those who have it pay half the PPE and get double duration and damage.


Inert Explosives.
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant;
Saving Throw: None
P.P.E. Cost:

The reverse of Magical Explosive, Inert Explosives temporarily transforms existing explosives material into a benign substance. The point of this spell for a spell caster to quickly and temporarily stop a bomb from exploding by magically rendering it NOT explosive. For example, a hand grenade would appear the same on the outside but effectively be sand on the inside. Note, the explosive (or at least the detonator needs to be disarmed or when the spell ends the materials become explosive again and may go off). Through the clever use and timing of this spell an operative could smuggle explosives past a checkpoint. The problem is the inert explosives, if sensed, will reveal that their aura has been altered and presence of magic will be present.

Bliss
Range: 5 feet (1.5 m) per level of experience.
Duration: One minute (4 melees).
Damage: Special. Saving Throw: Standard.
P.P.E.: Twenty
A particularly pleasurable invocation that incapacitates its victim with bliss. Under the influence of this spell, the victim has no attacks per melee, lies down, is -40% on and only makes joyous sounds; writhing in complete pleasure. Although there is no healing taking place there is no pain either, no matter how much pain they are in they feel pleasure. After the duration of the spell has run out it takes another minute for the victim to regain their full composure. During that second minute their number of attacks per melee are at half, speed is half, a penalty of -1 to strike, parry and dodge. Only one person can be affected per invocation. There are no chemical traces of any drugs in the person's system so there is no “chemical” dependence but repeated use of the spell is psychologically addictive as it is quick, intense pleasure.
Note: The spell was invented by a dealer who wanted to get into the “industry” but instead of building a lab and cooking or smuggling by transporting they experimented for over 10 years to make the opposite of the Agony spell.
The only ongoing challenge they faced was scalability. The mass construction of TW devices and scrolls to cast the spell independently of them.
So the story line is an alternative form of a drug cartel.

Knockout
Range: touch/melee strike
Duration: One melee per level.
Damage: Special.
Saving Throw: Standard.
P.P.E.: undecided
This invocation was made by a scrupulous spell inventing genius. Like the movies they saw as a child they wanted to harmlessly knock out others. As such it was only first level thugs and security guards, typically who are escorting the caster while they are unarmed. The spell needs the victim to fail their save and for the caster to succeed with one strike to the head. The striker must roll a modified 12 or higher some time during the melee round in which it is cast or it expires. The spell was intended to be used with hand to hand combat but a blunt object provides a -10 save. Regardless, the spell and the strike that delivers it does NO damage as will none of the melee attacks they make for the spell’s duration. The victim who fails their save wakes up in 1d4+1 minutes without a bruise or concussion and can get right back up and fight again; unless tied up. If they make the save they are undamage and can continue to fight and sound an alarm. If at any time the caster attempts to cause their victims actual sdc/hit point damage the strike does no damage and their victim is fully conscious. The spell was invented in an sdc dimension and does not work character 4th level or high and automatically fails if used against augmented, robotic, supernatural and MD beings (or those wearing MD armor or through a force field, etc.).

Winning Hand
Range: touch
Duration: One attempt.
Damage: None
Saving Throw: Standard.
P.P.E.: undecided
The spell may be cast before or during the gambling game the caster wants to win. The spell is made to give the caster the result of the game of change they are playing. If the game is poker then they will have the winning hand and their opponent the second best. The way the spell works, the caster must play against a live sentient opponent who has to fail their save. If they do, the caster wins even if the deck of cards is stacked, the dice are loaded, or the wheel is rigged. The caster gets a bonus to the spell strength of +2 if they have gambling as a skill. If the victim makes their save then the game of chance is resolved normally for the game they are playing unless their opponent is cheating or the game is rigged.

Hotwire
Range: touch
Duration: Instant
Damage: None
Saving Throw: None
P.P.E.: undecided
This invocation immediately starts a boat, car, plane or other sdc vehicle while simultaneously deactivating any alarm or theft electronic prevention.

Joyride
Range: vehicle one is in
Duration: two minutes per level.
Damage: None
Saving Throw: None
P.P.E.: undecided
This invocation was taught to a magic user by a godling of competition and chaos who wanted its casters to create high speed commotion. The spell magically empowers an sdc car or boat with supernatural abilities. Regardless of the vehicle's speed limit or condition it is in, it can now keep up with whatever it is chasing and go 2 mph faster or the vehicle's normal speed whichever is faster. If getting away they can go the vehicle's speed or 2 mph slower than the fastest vehicle chasing it. The vehicle now has 10 times the sdc, while the driver and passengers have an AR of 18 until they get out of the car or the sdc is down to the last 10%. The vehicle (car) will jump whenever it is about to run into something it can’t drive through. Come to a broken or non existent bridge the car jumps over it. A semi truck blocks its way, it jumps over it. A train, it jumps it. While a wooden cross guard it will drive through. If and when it breaks through a barricade of any kind it only takes cosmetic damage and suffers no more than 10% loss of its maximum sdc. While the barricade it breaks through is demolished. The tires are MD and can only be flattened with a critical hit. If it has a flat tire, the vehicle's speed is only reduced by 10% and suffers no penalties. If the vehicle goes over a cliff it will land without harming those inside it and suffer no more than 50% sdc damage while magically landing or rolling upright on its bottom. The spell tweeks physics so much that those inside do not experience car sickness and the ride is so smooth unstable explosives would not go off. It is safe to perform surgery or disarm a bomb as though they were not moving at all. While in the vehicle people are immune to bacteria, disease, gasses, and radiation. Any such weapons or materials will magically be contained inside so there is no risk of them getting out. The driver of the car can perform stunts at 90% skill proficiency and suffers no natural penalties. Also can drive off road with only a 10% reduction in speed and no stunt driving penalties. The vehicle won’t operate out of its designed medium. So a boat won’t drive on land. Nor will a car drive on water. The vehicle will come to a halt after it makes its jump onto land or water (clears 20 feet per level of the drive; minimum of 100 feet, whichever is greater). The driver and passengers can get in and out of the vehicle magically without injury rolling it off on the ground or stepping off / jumping onto another vehicle. Range attacks and melee fighting from or on the vehicle don’t not suffer penalties. While under the spell the parked vehicle strangely appears like the cars (boats) around it and if alone utterly unsuspicious and plain even with a gorgeous person in (PB 24+ or a scary looking monster HF 16 or even if there were murder being committed in the car). While moving the vehicle has an awe factor that will attract any sentient notice even if only in passing as it goes by. The spell also obscures the faces of the driver and passenger so that observes and video recordings can’t distinguish them for another who looks like their age, height, race, sex, and weight.
Part of the spell effect is a bit of chaos. Obstacles will appear out of nowhere that were not there before. These challenges are a godling's joke and test applying to both the pursuer and pursued. Animals (prey and predators; deer, squirrel, coyote; on water - shark, whale, etc) will be summoned and appear in front of the vehicle to which the drivers must commit to steering around (losing speed) or running them over. A glass window 10 by 20 feet will appear in front of the vehicle (on water it will be a sheet of ice). Chicken coop (4d6 chickens) will also appear out of obscuring vision for one round. The GM should feel free to let their imagination step in for other experiences. After the spell the car returns to its normal sdc, any damage the vehicle took gets compounded on it. If the damage is more than half the sdc of the vehicle it falls to pieces. If greater the vehicles blowups up (1d6 x10 sdc; 20 foot radius) and the character(s) have only 2 rounds to run away from it.

[taalismn]

Bottle/glass of water into a molotov cocktail
Canteen into a hand grenade (1D6x10 S.D.C.) damage to a radius of 10 feet (3 m).


Inert Explosives.
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant;
Saving Throw: None
P.P.E. Cost:

The reverse of Magical Explosive, Inert Explosives temporarily transforms existing explosives material into a benign substance. The point of this spell for a spell caster to quickly and temporarily stop a bomb from exploding by magically rendering it NOT explosive. For example, a hand grenade would appear the same on the outside but effectively be sand on the inside. Note, the explosive (or at least the detonator needs to be disarmed or when the spell ends the materials become explosive again and may go off). Through the clever use and timing of this spell an operative could smuggle explosives past a checkpoint. The problem is the inert explosives, if sensed, will reveal that their aura has been altered and presence of magic will be present. .

The Molotov cocktail spell app can be handled by two of the spells I created: Water to Fuel(4th level, 15 PPE for 4 gallons and 2 hours per level of experience), and Water to High-Grade Fuel(5th level, 15 PPE for 1 gallon and 1 hour per level of experience)

I'd lower PPE cost of an explosives spell for materials that are already storehouses of potential energy. For instance, I'd consider a spell that could turn coal into an explosive by accelerating its combustion rate to be reasonable. Turning a candle into the equivalent of a stick of dynamite would require a LOT more energy input because tallow, no matter how fast you burn it, doesn't have nearly as much energy(you might get a firecracker's worth out of it if you were just working off the energy stored in the material being transmuted).

I'll also shamelessly promote my own Mystic Detonation(12 PPE) the allows the caster to set off any chemical explosives remotely.

There's the canon spell Implosion Neutralizer that, for 12 PPE, reduces an explosive's damage and blast radius by HALF, so a transmutation spell that neutralizes an explosive's ability to explode entirely should cost correspondingly more.

[taalismn]

Okay, a few more thoughts before I turn in for the night:

-Inert Explosives
I'd put a limit on how much explosive material can be rendered harmless..amount that can be affected increases with experience. This prevents a 1st level character from neutralizing a 10,000 lb ANFO bomb. On the other hand, if the 1st level character has a demolition or demolitions disposal skill, he might be able to correctly deduce that the small mountain of explosives is set to be detonated by a 5-ounce blasting cap and can turn the fulminate of mercury in it into harmless chalk.

-Knockout---Given that the spell Sleep for 10 PPE allows one to turn food and drink into a sleeping potion, and Stunblast(Rifts Mercenary Adventures) for 16 PPE gives you a ranged blast that can stun targets, you should be able to work out something using those as models.

-Joyride
This attempts to do too much in one go. You have material reinforcement, speed increase, limited flight/super-jumping, driving skill increase, etc. If I allowed this in a game, I'd make it a PPE-expensive ritual. If I didn't allow it, I'd make the players spend the time casting several spells in concert like Full Throttle, Levitation, and Armor of Ithan, or have a TechnoWizard or Psi-Mechanic gimmick up the car. Or make all the power-ups the result of the trickster/speed-demon god handing out enchanted artifacts, like a bobblehead doll or pair of fuzzy dice that HAVE to be mounted on the dashboard/hung from the rearview mirror to empower the vehicle.

-Hotwire---I'm pretty sure I've seen somebody on the Invented Spells thread post a Technowizard spell like that(or I might have been working on one)...It's worth checking out the former, because there's loads of spells of utility there.Might be worth creating an Electrokinesis-simulating spell that could do similar things as well.