Tsunami

(Conjuration/Summoning)

Sphere: Elemental (Water)
Range: 200 yds. + 50 yds./level	Components: V, S, M
Duration: Special	Casting Time: 3 rds.
Area of Effect: Wave 2 ft. high	Saving Throw: None
and 10 ft. long per level
Subtlety: +6	Knockdown: Special
Sensory: Gargantuan visual,	Critical: None
huge audio

This mighty spell summons a tsunami, or gigantic wave, from any major body of water. The body of water must be at least 1 mile in width, so in most circumstances the tsunami can only be summoned from the sea, large lakes, or extremely big rivers. The wave is 2 feet high and 10 feet long for each level of experience of the caster, so a 15th-level priest would summon a tsunami 30 feet high and 150 feet wide. The wave can appear anywhere within the spell’s range and immediately sweeps forward in the direction specified by the caster. This may take it out of the allowed range or even back at the casting priest. The tsunami moves at a rate of 24 (240 yards per round) and lasts one round at 14th level, two rounds at 18th level, or three rounds at 22nd or higher level.

Ships caught by the tsunami must make a seaworthiness check (see Table 77 : Ship Types in the DMG) with a penalty equal to the wave’s height in feet. For example, a tsunami created by a 15th-level caster would inflict a –30% penalty to a vessel’s seaworthiness check. If the check is failed, the vessel capsizes and sinks in 1d10 rounds, with the possible loss of those aboard. Human or humanoid swimmers caught in the wave must make a saving throw vs. death magic or be drowned in the wave; any creature in the water in the wave’s path will be carried along as long as it lasts.

If the priest sent the wave towards the shore, the tsunami loses 5 feet of height for every 20 yards it travels; a 30-foot wave could wash 120 yards inland before there was nothing left of it. Creatures caught in the area sustain 1d4 points of damage for every 5 feet of height the tsunami currently possesses and are carried along until it ends. Air-breathing creatures must make saving throws vs. death magic or be drowned outright by this treatment. Wooden buildings have a chance equal to three times the wave’s current height of being destroyed by the tsunami (90% for a 30-foot wave, for example) while stone buildings have a chance equal to the wave’s height (or 30% for a 30-foot wave). Topography may influence or channel the wave’s advance, so a good-sized hill could stop a tsunami cold, although its seaward face may be denuded of creatures and vegetation by the wave.

Note that this spell in the hands of a high-level character can blanket an awesome amount of territory and literally destroy or drown anything in its path. The tsunami is so strenuous a spell that the priest is exhausted and helpless for 1d6 hours after summoning it.

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