Bard Spell: Bestow Trope

[Lysander]

I think Elan would like this one:

Bestow Trope
Evocation
Level: Brd 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One creature or object
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: Will negates (object)
Spell Resistance: Yes (object)

This spell allows a bard to make any creature or object likely to behave in ways that enhance a narrative.

Examples of effects on objects include:

*Causing a door to ominously swing shut on its own whenever creatures enter
*Enchanting a bookshelf to drop a relevant book when someone walks by in need of information
*Making a pair of pants likely to drop at inopportune times
*Making a romantic pond more appealing to fireflies
*Enchanting a cart of soft hay to roll beneath windows up to 10 feet away when someone is jumping out

Examples of effects on creatures include:

*Making a power-hungry person more prone to maniacal laughter
*Making a beautiful young woman's singing voice likely to attract nearby doves and butterflies
*Curse a person with a running gag (such as frequently stepping in horse manure, or having entertainers often sing the song they hate)

A bard can create other story-enhancing effects, but it should not be more powerful than the ones listed above. The effect must also follow a guideline of karma, and seem appropriate for the target. Any benefit or harm the spell causes is usually too minor to influence a battle.

A magical trope can be removed with spells like remove curse and dispel magic, or by physically placing a lampshade on the target. The latter is rarely done though since bards tend to be subtle about their use of this spell, and people usually assume things are like that normally.

[Tempest Fennac]

It's an interresting spell, but I'm not sure if it's really balanced or not. I guess it would be quite powerful if you used a wand of it on all the bookshelves in a huge library which the PCs were likely to need to use to gather information from.

[Arakune]

Yeah, make it be only one book in the room with criptic and obscure language with lots of useless information but will give some information (on a search check?) only one time increment (hour? day? week) before it becomes too late and yet you can get into the place at the nick of time.

[Lysander]

It's an interresting spell, but I'm not sure if it's really balanced or not. I guess it would be quite powerful if you used a wand of it on all the bookshelves in a huge library which the PCs were likely to need to use to gather information from.

While that could be useful, it would still be limited by what's on the shelves. And the spell doesn't have unlimited power, and tries to stay subtle. So if there is one useful book in the library that might save a lot of time by knocking it off a shelf. If there are twenty useful books it probably wouldn't knock any of them down, it might just make the shelf creak loudly to draw attention to it. It can't do anything overtly supernatural like making dozens of books fly around the room. It can only nudge probability to make the trope more likely.

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks for clarifying. In that case, it is probably balanced for a level 1 spell.

[Burley]

Really... this whole spell could just be part of Inspire Competence. As shown by Elan, singing in somebody's ear when they're trying to concentrate wouldn't make sense. However, if Inspire Competence was viewed as more like an... Aura of Luck kinda concept, everything could just fall into place around the bard.

Maybe the rogue is picking a lock, a fly lands on her face, and when she twitches, her hand slips upwards just enough to shift that tricky tumbler.

The mysterious falling book, or even the one book that's upside down could be a give away.
Maybe the bard starts thinking out loud and says: "We should hit the tavern when we're done." This starts the wizard thinking: "Wait... Tavern? Like a bar. Bar, bar... a type of pole. South Pole. North Pole, the polar ice caps. Cap is a type of hat. Hat rhymes with mat. Let me see that riddle again, Rygar! Ah-ha! The key is under the welcome mat!"

Makes sense, right?

[DamnedIrishman]

The mysterious falling book, or even the one book that's upside down could be a give away.
Maybe the bard starts thinking out loud and says: "We should hit the tavern when we're done." This starts the wizard thinking: "Wait... Tavern? Like a bar. Bar, bar... a type of pole. South Pole. North Pole, the polar ice caps. Cap is a type of hat. Hat rhymes with mat. Let me see that riddle again, Rygar! Ah-ha! The key is under the welcome mat!"

Makes sense, right?

+1 for any DM who composes a riddle to which the solution is "The Key Is Under The Welcome Mat".

+10 for any DM who does this with the front gate to the BBEG's Dread Volcano Fortress of Doom.

[nysisobli]

Sorry all i got is a limeric

There once was a dread volcanic fortress of doom
Said fortress had one significant room
The room was a hitch
They ran into the lich
The party was then put in their tomb


ugh not my best

[Magicus]

This spell is amazing, and made of win. The world I'm about to start running has tons of Bards in it, so this spell would be absolutely perfect.

The one question I would have, though, is why it requires somatic and material components. Such obvious use of wizardry seems to be at odds with the spell's subtlety. Instead, why not have it simply require verbal components, which could be a quick one-liner related to the target? For instance, if casting it on the power-mad villain to make him prone to maniacal laughter, the verbal component could be something like: "Your mad scheme will never work, Lord Vivaldi!" An additional benefit of this is allowing the Bard to cast the spell while tied up in the villain's lair, a location rife with possible tropes.

[Cute_Riolu]

In my game, every bard will get this spell for free. :D

[The Tygre]

Love this. Perhaps there should be a higher level version for some of the more potent tropes? Y'know, One Winged Angels, Ominous Latin Chanting, those sorts? I don't know, maybe those could be solved with some applications of this one or other mechanics...

All in all, an awesome spell. :smallbiggrin:

[Lysander]

Love this. Perhaps there should be a higher level version for some of the more potent tropes? Y'know, One Winged Angels, Ominous Latin Chanting, those sorts? I don't know, maybe those could be solved with some applications of this one or other mechanics...

How about this:

Bestow Arc
Enchantment
Level: Brd 5
Components: V
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One creature
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes (object)

A bard can choose a fate for their subject that will forever change who they are, often changing their alignment or outlook on the world. Unlike enchantments that magically change a person's alignment, this spell merely makes them more likely to encounter circumstances that will alter them without any mental compulsion whatsoever. The spell ends when the fate is met, but will work ceaselessly until then.

Common fates bestowed include:

*Redeem - An evil target is likely to encounter people in need they are capable of helping, that will guilt them into doing so. Most characters subject to this fate will eventually turn neutral or good due to the praise and friendship gained.
*Corrupt - A good target is likely to come across scenes of war and strife that are beyond their power to fix. Most good characters subject to this fate will become neutral or evil over time.
*Love - The target is more likely to encounter people they are romantically compatible with. This spell ends once the subject is married, or at least committed.
*Chaos - The target is more likely to encounter weird and unique circumstances that require bending the rules, and will often turn a lawful person neutral or chaotic over time.
*Common sense - Bards are unlikely to turn people to order, but they can enough make a wildly chaotic person behave more rationally by exposing them to hard knocks.

The spell only makes these fates more likely, and cannot turn some completely against their nature. There must be a shred of the desired trait in the subject for the spell to expand. Nor does the spell cause any of the events, it merely increases the odds the subject will cross paths with them.

Bestow Arc is a patient and subtle spell and will apply its effect for the months, years, or decades necessary to convert someone, and even then may never succeed. It usually can only manage to lead someone into an event once every few weeks, but sometimes there are more frequent opportunities available based on the area.

Every time Bestow Arc presents another situation, the subject has a new will save to break the spell but only if it is trying to goad them into something they are considerably unwilling to do.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Love this. Perhaps there should be a higher level version for some of the more potent tropes? Y'know, One Winged Angels, Ominous Latin Chanting, those sorts? I don't know, maybe those could be solved with some applications of this one or other mechanics...

Would the 6th-level (or 9th-level) culmination of the spell chain be Genre Savvy (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main.GenreSavvy)?

[Lysander]

Would the 6th-level (or 9th-level) culmination of the spell chain be Genre Savvy (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main.GenreSavvy)?

I think you'd have to assume any bard using these spells is pretty darn genre savvy, even if the character is not actually aware they're in a game. They might just prefer the world to be more like the stories they tell.

[Innis Cabal]

+1 for any DM who composes a riddle to which the solution is "The Key Is Under The Welcome Mat".

+10 for any DM who does this with the front gate to the BBEG's Dread Volcano Fortress of Doom.

Letters spell out W E L C O M E, but gates are shut. Where you step is where you will find me

[PairO'Dice Lost]

I think you'd have to assume any bard using these spells is pretty darn genre savvy, even if the character is not actually aware they're in a game. They might just prefer the world to be more like the stories they tell.

Well, he probably is, but the spell would be a major manifestation of it, just like bestow trope is a minor one. I'm thinking the genre savvy spell would do things like let you figure out exactly where the BBEG's fortress is ("Well obviously a bad guy dressed like that is going to have an underwater fortress, guys!"), tell you someone or something's major weakness ("Don't worry, guys, they always put a thermal exhaust port in one of these things somewhere!"), or whatever. Basically it would be on the same level of find the path, foresight, and other "you know exactly what to do" spells.

[Devils_Advocate]

Impressive.

Given the broad range of potential effects, might I suggest making both spells Universal? I think that that fits better than any particular school of magic.

Poor Universal; people forget it even exists.

[Lysander]

Impressive.

Given the broad range of potential effects, might I suggest making both spells Universal? I think that that fits better than any particular school of magic.

Poor Universal; people forget it even exists.

Universal does make more sense, not that it matters much since it's a bard exclusive spell.

[Galileo]

Totally taking this next time my bard levels up.

[ImmortalAer]

+1 for any DM who composes a riddle to which the solution is "The Key Is Under The Welcome Mat".

+10 for any DM who does this with the front gate to the BBEG's Dread Volcano Fortress of Doom.

+100 if the key is an Orb of Annihilation. :smalltongue:

"It should be just under the mat... Here, I'll reach under and fish it out. Odd, there seems to be a little hole here... AHH-"

[Dagren]

+100 if the key is an Orb of Annihilation. :smalltongue:

"It should be just under the mat... Here, I'll reach under and fish it out. Odd, there seems to be a little hole here... AHH-"For a sufficiently high value of "Key", huh? Well, it could open the door... :smalltongue:

EDIT: Again, for a given value of "Open". :smallbiggrin: