Crystallized Spells

[crunchykoolaid]

For an upcoming campaign I plan on running, I want to introduce something I call "crystallized spells". These are artifacts of great power from a previous civilization that are basically spells given physical form and constantly output those spells.

For example, a crystallized spell of Animate Dead would randomly reanimate any nearby corpses within a certain radius, and a crystallized spell of Move Earth would constantly rearrange dirt around it in an ever-shifting random pattern.

What spells would be interesting to see as crystallized versions, and what plot hooks could I use them for?

[Flickerdart]

So basically it is a Spell Clock (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cw/20070312a)?

[Rubik]

So basically it is a Spell Clock (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cw/20070312a)?Also see the Soul Crystal power, from Magic of Incarnum.

[Werephilosopher]

What spells would be interesting to see as crystallized versions, and what plot hooks could I use them for?

Spells that impact large areas could be the focus of "let's destroy the dangerous artifact" quests. Fimbulwinter, evil weather, dark tide, shadow landscape, that sort of thing. Fimbulwinter already has a crystallized version of sorts in the major iceheart, which casts it once/day.

Spells which have positive effects could be safely stored and handled - a heal crystal would be very useful. Spells with offensive utility would require special handling - a fireball crystal would need to be stored in a fireproof container, and carried by someone with immunity to fire who can run into a group of enemies with it.

Relevant questions:
Does the wielder of a crystal get to turn it on and off?
Are area spells focused around the crystal, possibly affecting the wielder?
How do crystals which summon or create stuff, like wall of stone, work?

[Uncle Pine]

So basically it is a Spell Clock (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cw/20070312a)?

Exactly a spell clock.

[ExLibrisMortis]

You can do this easily with the Living Spell template. It takes an area spell (although you can modify this, as DM) and turns it into an ooze-type creature. Any creature that is struck by the ooze's slam, or that is engulfed by the ooze, suffers the full spell effect. It's the Engulf (Ex) that does the real work, as living spells only get one slam, with a pretty low attack bonus. You can add the Sentry Ooze template for a large boost to wisdom and charisma (+10!) and +2 intelligence (2 instead of --).

So how do you make a crystallized spell?

1) You want it to be an area effect, that you can walk into - so make the Living Animate Dead incorporeal or ethereal (+ Transdimensional Spell?). You need to houserule a little about the status of Engulf in this case, but it's fun.
2) You want to make it a big area, so increase its size to Colossal. By default, living spells are small to huge, which may be enough for some purposes, but it's a smallish area for something like animate dead.

Good spells are SR:Yes no-save spells, as the Spell Effect ability is (Su), so it does not allow SR, removing the weaknesses of those spells. Blasphemy is a classic - officially, a CL 17 Living Blasphemy is CR 15, and it dazes everyone with 16 HD or less (a level-appropriate party, in other words), every turn they are engulfed (and when engulfed, you are also grappled, so good luck escaping that when dazed).

[DrMartin]

Crawling Cromlech from Hyperconscious - a crystallized power unleashing crystalline slabs of concentric DOOM

[crunchykoolaid]

Thanks for the ideas guys! As for spell clocks, I had not heard of those, but that is almost exactly what I'm thinking of! However, these spells in my campaign were created by forces beyond normal means and are unpredictable and uncontrollable as a result. For Wall of Stone, or other spells like that, the crystallized spell would create walls of random size and shape in random conditions once every few rounds, and a character holding the spell could not control the creation of said walls without an exceptionally high Caster Level check. As such, I plan on these to be less player use items and more McGuffins and plot hooks as a result.

[nedz]

You could go for a Living Spell generator. Kind of like a portal: it just keeps churning out Living Spells of some type.

[daremetoidareyo]

Crystaline memories!!