Oddly specific spells?

[SangoProduction]

I just downloaded The Grand Grimoir app (basically a really cool compilation of printed spells), and started reading some of the spells.

I saw one called "Protection against Winged Fliers". That's kinda oddly specific.

Anyone know of similarly specific spells? Ones that are so specific that they are ambiguous as to what they affect are even more delicious.

[Venger]

dispel fog has to be on this list.

[The Viscount]

Cloud Wings is confusing.

Backbiter is a lame spell made all the worse by the fact that you can't cast it on every weapon.

False Peacebond kind of doesn't make any sense/work, it basically does the same thing as just waving your hands and saying "I totally cast peacebond you guys."

Halaster's Shaking Hand functions only to counter Bibgy's hand spells.

Call Forth the Beast is this weird space where you want to cause problems for someone but don't want to actually kill them.

Familial Geas may be super cool in concept but it makes very little mechanical sense.

[Inevitability]

Amanuensis copies text. It's admittedly faster than manually transcribing the text, but how often do you have to copy a text within a very specific timeframe?

At least it's not a 3rd-level spell like it used to be anymore.

[Fizban]

I saw one called "Protection against Winged Fliers". That's kinda oddly specific.
From Shining South IIRC. A setting book that spent a lot of time going on about the flying cavalry of two opposed factions in the area, so they made a weirdly specific spell to go with it. Funny because it doesn't protect you at all from the rider, which reinforces the fact that mooks are pretty superfluous when their mounts are griffons.

dispel fog has to be on this list.
Fogs are some of the most powerful spells, Gust of Wind doesn't stop them from re-casting and is rather ambiguous in how much of the cloud it may or may not deal with. Dispel Fog (also from Shining South) covers a massive area and keeps that area clear of fogs for an extended duration. It pays for this with a caster level check, which is rather annoying since it is inevitably compared to Gust of Wind which has no level check, so Dispel Fog is dismissed out of hand. If they'd made it a 3rd level spell without checks then nobody would question it, but then it wouldn't be "Dispel" Fog.

Amanuensis copies text. It's admittedly faster than manually transcribing the text, but how often do you have to copy a text within a very specific timeframe?
Bro, do you even espionage?

[Requiem_Jeer]

Amanuensis is a very good cantrip. 10/10 would recommend.

[Inevitability]

Bro, do you even espionage?

Oh, that definitely works. I wasn't saying it's useless, only that it had some very specific usages.

[Venger]

Fogs are some of the most powerful spells, Gust of Wind doesn't stop them from re-casting and is rather ambiguous in how much of the cloud it may or may not deal with. Dispel Fog (also from Shining South) covers a massive area and keeps that area clear of fogs for an extended duration. It pays for this with a caster level check, which is rather annoying since it is inevitably compared to Gust of Wind which has no level check, so Dispel Fog is dismissed out of hand. If they'd made it a 3rd level spell without checks then nobody would question it, but then it wouldn't be "Dispel" Fog.


Right, so that's definitely true. It can also kill a vampire when he's in gaseous form. Like with amanuensis, it's not a useless spell by any means, just an extremely specific one.

[SangoProduction]

Right, so that's definitely true. It can also kill a vampire when he's in gaseous form. Like with amanuensis, it's not a useless spell by any means, just an extremely specific one.

Which, is kinda what's being asked for lol.

[Fizban]

There's specific, like Dispel Fog, where the spell is clearly superior in it's intended aspects and has an obvious use. Then there's oddly specific, like Protection from Winged Flyers, which does all the same things as Protection from Evil with none of the same reasoning other than "we chanced evil to winged flyers."

[sleepyphoenixx]

There's specific, like Dispel Fog, where the spell is clearly superior in it's intended aspects and has an obvious use. Then there's oddly specific, like Protection from Winged Flyers, which does all the same things as Protection from Evil with none of the same reasoning other than "we chanced evil to winged flyers."
It's also on the druid list, which is rather nice for the anti-possession and mental control aspects.
There's also Protection from Possession, which only does the anti-possession and mental control aspects. It does have its benefits though - it lasts 10 minutes/level instead of 1, and doesn't allow a save, which could be useful if you want to cast it on someone already mind-controlled.

Then there's Protection from Charms, which adds a resistance bonus to saves against charms + compulsions - but only for 1 round/level.

[Keldrin]

Drawmij's instant summons. There is a certain cool factor of having your signature staff, sword, etc, teleporting to your hand, but in all my years of playing, I've never seen it used. Probably because it's 7th level, and by that time you can do all sorts of other cool stuff.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Drawmij's instant summons. There is a certain cool factor of having your signature staff, sword, etc, teleporting to your hand, but in all my years of playing, I've never seen it used. Probably because it's 7th level, and by that time you can do all sorts of other cool stuff.
The high level is annoying, but it's not that big an issue. It's a downtime spell anyway, so you can afford to blow the 7th level slot on a quiet day.
The problem with it (aside from the non-trivial material component) is that it doesn't work in the one situation where you'd really want it - when someone steals something important from you.

It would be really useful to put this on something like your spellbook, a weapon or an important item like your Item Familiar or the focus for Kissed by the Ages. And just summon it back when it's stolen or you got imprisoned or something like that.
But even if you somehow managed to keep the sapphire it'll still fail if someone else has it on them.
And knowing who has it and roughly where they are isn't really helpful when you can't prepare your spells or really need to stab someone in the face right now.

[Keldrin]

All of the above is true, but the OP said oddly specific spells, which I believe Drawmij's qualifies. I'd bet the level is a matter of it being a legacy spell, where, as far as I can tell, Gygax's style of not letting players have nice things.

[danielxcutter]

Hold Portal. That being said, it does have it's uses. (http://antiheroescomic.com/comic/25)

[Bohandas]

Amanuensis copies text. It's admittedly faster than manually transcribing the text, but how often do you have to copy a text within a very specific timeframe?

It makes sense from a flavor/versimilitude perspective.

[Segev]

Instant Summins is probably more useful as a seed for magic item creation. If your spell book is enchanted to cast it and create an arcane mark on you that replaces the sapphire, it's a lot more useful.

It also is useful for calling backup equipment that you didn't want to carry. For me, the most prohibitive thing about it is how expensive it is in gp.

[Venger]

speaking of summons, steal summoning is super situational and is also an annoyingly high level.

[TIPOT]

Dispel Ward from the Spell compendium is really niche and really unlikely to work except at really low levels due to the level check cap.

[Fizban]

It also is useful for calling backup equipment that you didn't want to carry. For me, the most prohibitive thing about it is how expensive it is in gp.
As a pre-cast spell the slot level isn't much of a problem, it is indeed the gp that hurts. I think it's supposed to be a combo with Secret Chest. The Chest is basically the most secure way to store something, better than carrying it on your person since the only way to get it is to mind control you. Instant Summons will pluck an item straight out the chest and remains just as secure, since only you can trigger it. It's a specific effect, but again nothing I'd call odd.

Dispel Ward makes sense too, in that someone decided they wanted dispels at every level and that was the only thing they could think of weak enough to put at 1st, and it is a nice bit of page filler. Compare Erase, which seems like it should be odd, but again serves an obvious purpose in removing certain difficult to remove spells. They're not oddly specific, they're just extremely specific because low level spells aren't supposed to have broad applications.

If I could think of any spells that are actually as odd as Protection from Winged Flyers, I'd have mentioned them, but nothing else here strikes me as odd. Maybe Gnome Blight? Making a spell with increased effects against creatures with scent and gnomes because wah, kobolds hate gnomes is. . . specific, lame in my opinion, but makes perfect sense with how they're typifying kobolds.

How about Channel the Mishtai? A flat 1 minute duration buff with a random bonus+penalty that rolls a wider range of effects for rilkan and skarn. Even controlled it wouldn't be better than any other 2nd level buffs so all the weirdness is just there for it's own sake. Except it's pretty obvious with a single afterthought as usual: the Greater version is the real spell, and someone just thought it was neccesary to make a garbage lesser version to make it look better.

[Keldrin]

My first thought was Duo Dimension, but I don't think it made the jump to 3rd edition.
For those who don't know it, it was another high level (7 iirc) spell that made the caster 2 dimensional. Made it easy to slip through cracks, go under doors, and you were immune to damage as long as you were turned sideways and invisible. If you weren't, you took double. I don't know what happened with area effects.

This one is again is more the high level than anything else.

[Venger]

My first thought was Duo Dimension, but I don't think it made the jump to 3rd edition.
For those who don't know it, it was another high level (7 iirc) spell that made the caster 2 dimensional. Made it easy to slip through cracks, go under doors, and you were immune to damage as long as you were turned sideways and invisible. If you weren't, you took double. I don't know what happened with area effects.

This one is again is more the high level than anything else.

at least part of the spell still exists (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/duodimensionalClaw.htm) but is a psionic power instead.

[Morcleon]

The psionic power Slow Breathing, which gives a +4 bonus to Fortitude saves against altitude sickness.

[Doctor Awkward]

Lucky Streak is a Bard 1, Sorcerer/Wizard 2 spell from Complete Scoundrel.

For one minute per caster level, any time the subject of the spell uses a luck feat to reroll a die, they gain a +2 luck bonus to the roll.

EDIT:

Heck, Mage Burr from the same book.

For the duration of the spell, arcane spell failure penalties from armor worn and shields carried are doubled, and you get a -5 penalty to concentration checks. However the spell can only target creatures actually wearing armor and/or carrying shields. So if you do happen to be someone who wears armor and casts arcane spells, but you don't suffer an armor check penalty, you only take the -5 penalty to Concentration. That part is okay, I guess. But it's sort of weird that the primary effect of this spell is literally never going to be relevant.

[Cerefel]

Silverbeard(SpC) makes your character grow a beard made of metal, even if your character couldn't normally grow a beard at all.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Locate city. Why, you ask? It can only find cities in a two-dimensional circle, so if you don't aim it just right to where the circle just happens to intersect a city, it doesn't work at all. Pretty terrible if you're in the mountains, or need to find a city underground, and if the terrain is flat enough to where you could be assured it works properly because settlements intersect with the circle, you could probably just see the damned place anyway.

[Venger]

Distracting ray. It seems to provide no additional utility over casting a spell that actually does something when it comes to disturbing a concentrating character.