Known True Dweomers Players and DMs can use the system outlined above to create an endless
variety of spells. Here is a brief sampling of true dweomers that have been
documented in one or more worlds.
The spells are presented in standard AD&D game format, as described in
Appendix 2 of the Player’s Handbook, except as noted below. Additional information specific to true dweomers is
also included.
The Type entry identifies all the kinds of magic (from Table 28) used in the spell.
The Difficulty entry gives the spell’s difficulty rating before any reductions.
The Final Difficulty rating gives the spell’s difficulty as if it were being cast by a
nonspecialized caster of 20th level using all the material components and special
conditions listed in the spell description. An additional –10 for casting a previously
recorded spell is also applied.
The Preparation and Casting Time are based on the spell’s unmodified final difficulty rating.
The Range entry works as described in the notes to Table 31.
Hurd’s Obligation
(Conjuration/Summoning)
Type: Bind
Range: Touch
Duration: Conditional
Adjusted Difficulty: 180
Final Difficulty: 45
Preparation Time: 1 Month
Casting Time: 1 Hour
Area of Effect: 1d6+5 Creatures
Saving Throw: Neg (–8 penalty)
A covetous wizard invented this spell to ensure that adventurers in his employ
honored their agreements. Hurd worked diligently to discover hidden caches of
treasure and regularly dispatched teams of heroes to recover them. The spell
was normally completed with a handshake between the caster and the group’s
leader. A typical venture could take six months to a year to complete, but the spell
remained until the verbal contract was carried out.
Creatures subjected to this spell are forced to carry out the terms of their
agreement with the caster. They are incapable of fighting the effects of the
spell to try and escape the agreement. In Hurd’s case, adventuring parties
returned back to his tower with all of the treasure they found and gave him his
agreed-upon share. Only a 10th-level dispel, such as Nazzer’s nullification, cast directly upon an affected creature can dispel its effects.
The material components are a sheet of vellum inscribed with the adventurers’
names (common), a permanent magical item given to the group’s leader (exotic),
a small ruby (100 gp value) given to each creature affected, one pound of giant
bee honey, and a few drops of oil of slipperiness (rare components). The items given away are not consumed, but become the
recipients’ property.
Kolin’s Undead Legion
(Necromancy)
Type: Animate
Range: Plane
Duration: Instantaneous
Difficulty: 325
Final Difficulty: 45
Preparation Time: 1 Month
Casting Time: 1 Hour
Area of Effect: 5,000-foot square, 5 feet high
Saving Throw: None
This spell animates 200 Hit Dice of skeletons or zombies from intact remains
in an area up to 5,000 feet square anywhere on the same plane as the caster. The
caster can give the legion one brief, simple command when the spell is cast,
but he must be present to give detailed orders. The wizard Kolin typically
dispatched an undead lieutenant to the scene to take command of the troops.
The material components are an unbroken bone (common), dust from an undead
spellcaster’s lair, a horn that has been played over a warrior’s grave, a copper
dagger that has been bloodied in battle (rare), mold from a general’s shroud,
and a battle standard carried into an ambush (exotic).
Kreb’s Flaming Dragon
(Illusion/Phantasm)
Type: Shadow Shape
Range: 50 yards
Duration: 1 Hour
Difficulty: 65
Final Difficulty: 5
Preparation Time: 1 Turn
Casting Time: 1 Round
Area of Effect: 1 Creature
Saving Throw: Special
This spell produces a single red dragon of very old age or younger. Opponents
who suspect the dragon is not real can save vs. spell to disbelieve it. Even if
the save succeeds, however, the dragon still has an Armor Class of 4 and
retains 80% of its damage potential and hit points. If the dragon is disbelieved,
its non-damaging special powers, such as its fear aura and suggestion ability, have a 20% chance to fail before any saving throws are rolled.
The material components are a sealed metal container full of pebbles (common),
a red dragon’s tooth, two long, silver needles with gold or gem-studded heads
(75 gp each), and a ball or red yarn spun from a ram’s fleece (rare).
Kreb’s Stately Veil
(Illusion/Phantasm)
Type: Delude
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 Week
Difficulty: 120
Final Difficulty: 5
Preparation Time: 1 Turn
Casting Time: 1 Round
Area of Effect: 1 Creature
Saving Throw: Neg.
This spell makes the recipient appear vigorous, attractive, and wealthy. The
recipient’s basic features remain unaltered, however, and characters can readily
be identified as themselves (a rare condition). The recipient appears to be
clothed in costly garments of the caster’s choosing. These look and sound genuine
(silks rustle, spurs jingle, etc.), but anyone touching the recipient feels
the character’s actual clothing. The recipient is surrounded by a pleasant scent
appropriate to the character’s altered appearance (rare perfume, new leather,
wildflowers, etc.).
The material components are a bar of scented soap (common); an uncut gem worth
at least 100 gp; a fresh, unopened blossom from a deadly plant; a serpent’s
shed skin collected by the caster’s own hand (rare); and a handful of mud
gathered from a hot spring at sunrise (exotic).
Nazzer’s Nullification
(Abjuration)
Type: Dispel
Range: 50 yards/1,500 yards
Duration: Instantaneous
Difficulty: 55/90
Final Difficulty: –5/13
Preparation Time: None/1 Week
Casting Time: 1 Round/1 Turn
Area of Effect: 70’ x 70’/220’ x 220’
Saving Throw: None
This is essentially the 10th-level version of dispel magic. As noted in the spell statistics, there are two different versions of this
spell; the second is referred to as Nazzer’s nullification cloak. Both spells share some common elements, however.
Once cast, all spells and spell-like effects in the area of effect have a
chance to be dispelled. Unless noted otherwise, it functions as the 3rd-level
wizard spell dispel magic.
Spells of levels 1–9 have a base 100% chance to be dispelled. True dweomers
have a base chance of 50% to be dispelled (a roll of 11 or higher on a d20). If
the caster of the effect is of higher level than the caster of Nazzer’s nullification, subtract one from the chance of success for each level of difference. If the
caster of the effect is of lower level, add one to the chance of success for
each level of difference. For example, a 25th-level wizard’s stoneskin that is the target of this spell cast by a 21st-level wizard would reduce the
chance for success to a roll of 15 or higher on a d20. No matter what the
adjustments, a roll of 1 is always a failure, and a roll of 20 is always a success.
Nazzer’s nullification can be cast on a magical item to permanently render the item nonmagical. Most
standard magical items are susceptible to this spell, since their effective
level is 12th in most instances. Even if not successful, the item is rendered
nonoperational for 1d4 rounds. Artifacts are not subject to this effect.
The material components for this spell are dust from a burned out ioun stone that has been ground to powder, a fire opal worth precisely 1,200 gp, and a
dagger of the finest quality (an exceptional weapon). All are rare components.
Nazzer’s nullification cloak: The secondary version of this spell remains in operation for one full turn
after it has been cast, disrupting all magic entering it. Magic within the area
of effect at the time the spell is cast is dispelled as described above, but
magical items continue to function.
If a spell succeeds in resisting the dispel, it is immune to the remaining
nine rounds’ worth of dispelling unless it somehow exits the area of effect and
then reenters. All magic that enters the area of effect after the initial round
is subject to dispelling.
Spell and spell-like effects cannot be used within the area for the duration
of the spell. If the caster is within the area of effect, his spells also fail.
Neither version of this spell has a visible effect.
In addition to the material components detailed above, this spell also
requires the dust gathered from an awakened demilich’s lair.
Neja’s Irresistible Plea
(Enchantment/Charm)
Type: Compel
Range: 20 Yards
Duration: Variable
Difficulty: 60
Final Difficulty: 0
Preparation Time: 1 Round
Casting Time: 1 Round
Area of Effect: 1 Creature
Saving Throw: Neg. (–3 to saving throws)
The wizard Neja didn’t like to take “no” for an answer when requesting help
with a problem. When this spell is cast, the victim is compelled to perform some
task that takes 12 hours or less to complete. Anything that the victim can
reasonably do, from ferrying the caster across a lake to searching a river bottom
for a lost trinket, is fair game.
The material components are a whiff of perfume (common), a piece of sweetcake
made with the caster’s own hands, a tear of sorrow, and a small, silver replica
of any stringed instrument.
Neja’s Toadstool
(Alteration)
Type: Transform
Range: 20 yards
Duration: 1 Day
Difficulty: 120
Final Difficulty: 3
Preparation Time: 1 Turn
Casting Time: 1 Round
Area of Effect: 1 Creature
Saving Throw: Neg.
A vengeful wizard is reputed to have favored this spell to teach people who
insulted her a lesson. If the saving throw fails, the victim becomes a small
toadstool (a rare condition, since the result is always a toadstool), retaining
only their hit points for the duration of the spell.
Nazzer’s nullification can—if successful—transform a character back into his original form. A system
shock roll is required, with failure indicating death. A crushed
toadstool—perhaps one that has been stepped on by an angry archmage—produces a likewise
mangled character if successfully dispelled.
The spell requires a chunk of dead wood (common material component); a bit of
dung from an unfettered, uncaged werebeast gathered by the caster in the dark
of the moon; a wild moth’s egg, live but unhatched; and a bit of truffle (two
exotic components and one rare component).
Neja’s Unfailing Contempt
(Conjuration/Summoning)
Type: Afflict
Range: 20 yards
Duration: Variable
Difficulty: 220
Final Difficulty: 3
Preparation Time: 1 Turn
Casting Time: 1 Round
Area of Effect: 1 Creature
Saving Throw: None
Not always satisfied with turning others into toadstools, Neja devised this
spell to insure her point of view prevailed in any discussion. When this spell is
cast on a creature who has made a remark detrimental to the caster or opposed
to the caster’s interests (this limitation qualifies as a rare condition), the
target creature becomes irritating to all intelligent creatures whose alignment
is similar to the caster’s. The spell persists until the victim retracts the
statement.
Creatures with the same alignment as the caster find the victim loathsome in
the extreme and cannot bear the victim’s presence. They flee, drive away, or
belittle the victim as fits the situation. The victim is not actually attacked
unless the surrounding creatures would ordinarily be hostile.
The effect is less severe if the creature’s alignment only partially overlaps
the caster’s. For example, a lawful good caster generates a reduced effect in
creatures whose alignments are lawful neutral, lawful evil, neutral good, and
chaotic good. Such creatures tend to view the victim as a moronic windbag, and
they generally refuse to take anything the victim says seriously unless there is
overwhelming evidence that the victim is speaking the truth.
The spell’s components are a bud of crushed garlic (common), a vial of giant
skunk musk, a lump of harpy dung, the tongue from any giant, poisonous amphibian
(rare), the intact pelt of an aurumvorax, and a lock of hair, freely given,
from a succubus or lamia (exotic).
Ratecliffe’s Deadly Finger
(Necromancy)
Type: Slay
Range: 1,500 Yards
Duration: Instantaneous
Difficulty: 190
Final Difficulty: 0
Preparation Time: 1 Round
Casting Time: 1 Round
Area of Effect: 40 HD of creatures in a 50-foot square area
Saving Throw: Special
This spell allows the caster to slay living creatures simply by pointing a
finger. If the spell is insufficient to slay all the creatures in the area of
effect, creatures closest to the caster are affected first. Creatures with less
than 9 Hit Dice are not entitled to a saving throw. Creatures with 9 Hit Dice or
more are allowed saves vs. death magic to avoid the effect. Creatures who
succeed with their saving throws count toward the Hit Dice affected by the spell.
Creatures slain by this spell cannot be magically revived except by a wish,
another true dweomer, or a deity’s intervention.
The material components are an adder’s head (common), a mummy’s finger, a
rusty nail drawn from a coffin or gallows (rare), the skull from a creature killed
by a catoblepas hunting in its natural habitat, two copper coins surrendered by
a will o’ wisp, and a shard from a lich’s phylactery or a demilich’s skull
(exotic).
Tenser’s Telling Blow
(Evocation/Invocation)
Type: Strike
Range: Line of Sight
Duration: Instantaneous
Difficulty: 160
Final Difficulty: –7
Preparation Time: None
Casting Time: 1 Round
Area of Effect: 50-foot square, 5' high (1,250 cubic feet)
Saving Throw: 1/2
This spell creates a blast of force that inflicts 20d8+20 points of damage to
all creatures within the area of effect. At least one target creature must
already be engaged in some form of combat (missile, melee, or offensive
spellcasting); the spell cannot be used preemptively (a rare condition).
The material components are any weapon (common), a tooth or claw from a huge
or gargantuan creature, a horseshoe worn into battle by a warhorse (rare), the
shards of a diamond shattered by a single blow from a titan, and a bit of cloth
dampened with a widow’s tears (exotic).
Wulf’s Erasure
(Abjuration)
Type: Dispel, Destroy
Range: 20 Yards
Duration: Instantaneous
Adjusted Difficulty: 85
Final Difficulty: 8
Preparation Time: 1 Day
Casting Time: 1 Turn
Area of Effect: 50-foot square, 5 feet high
Saving Throw: Special
The high priest Wulf used this spell to obliterate normal and magical writings
such as explosive runes, glyphs, symbols, illusory script, and even spell scrolls (a rare condition). Normal writings—including
spellbooks—save vs. disintegration or they are erased. Magical writings use the
procedure for a 10th-level dispel effect. Items in a creature’s possession cannot be
affected unless the creature first fails a saving throw vs. spell.
When cast, all writings in the area of effect are subject to erasure unless
protected by a 10th-level ward spell or similar construct. It makes no difference
if writings are stored in dimensional devices, such as bags of holding, portable holes, or other items.
The material components are ashes from a burned parchment that once bore
writing (common) a platinum mirror, a hardened lump of sap gathered by the caster’s
own hand from a tropical tree, and a quill used by an unfriendly archmage of
20th level or higher to scribe a spell onto a scroll or spellbook. (Two rare and
one exotic). The caster catches the reflection of one of the writings to be
erased in the mirror, rubs the image with the hardened sap, then breaks the quill.
Wulf’s Rectification
(Abjuration)
Type: Banish
Range: Touch
Duration: Instantaneous
Difficulty: 155
Final Difficulty: 2
Preparation Time: None
Casting Time: 1 Round
Area of Effect: 1d4+1 Creatures within a 50-foot diameter
Saving Throw: None, –20% to Magic Resistance
The high priest Wulf used this spell to remove extra-planar impostors and
usurpers. Wulf is known to have employed reveal spells to identify potential
targets. The spell is effective only against extra-planer creatures that have secured
a title, property, or office that rightfully belongs to some other being (a
rare condition).
The material components are a mirror (common), a sunstone worth at least 500
gp, a document signed or sealed by the original owner or title holder, a
document signed or sealed by the usurper, a sworn accusation against the usurper
recited by a character loyal to the original owner and recorded by a character who
has benefited from the usurper’s actions since the seizure, and a jewel, badge,
or medal freely given by the usurper to the caster. (Three rare and two exotic
components.) The caster bundles the material components together and strikes a
creature to be banished with it.
Yunni’s Herald
(Alteration, Enchantment/Charm, Illusion/Phantasm)
Type: Animate, Imbue, Image
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 Week
Difficulty: 140
Final Difficulty: –2
Preparation Time: None
Casting Time: 1 Round
Area of Effect: One object or group of objects weighing 50 pounds or less
Saving Throw: None
This spell creates an animated messenger that moves at a speed of 12 to the
location specified by the caster and delivers a spoken message of any length in a
loud, clear voice. If sufficient duration remains after the herald delivers
its message, the caster can instruct it to return with a written reply, which
some person must attach to the herald. The herald can be programmed to perform
specific actions at certain times, subject to the spell duration.
If more than one object is affected by the spell, they all must be given the
same message and instructions. Only total destruction of the object, by a disintegrate or similar spell, can stop the herald from delivering its message.
The material components are a seashell (common), a feather from a bird gifted
with speech, a clock or other machine capable of independent operation, a
powdered onyx worth at least 50 gp (rare), blood taken from a mimic while in an
assumed form, and a leaf or seed from a tree animated by a treant and freely given
(exotic).
Table of Contents