Crafting Spells (3.5)

[JellyPooga]

Everyone's heard of Mordenkainen, Bigby, Melf and all the other (supposedly) powerful wizards of yore that gave us such signature spells as Acid Arrow, Crushing Hand and Magnificent Mansion (in reverse order)...

...but how many people have played in a game where the spellcaster has actually created their own spells? I personally never have and it just struck me that for something that does actually have a rule (albeit a loose one, I'll grant) to adjudicate its process, it's something that is so rarely used in actual play (at least I've never seen it done...the closest I've seen to it being used is when V researched his own divination to locate Haley in OOTS).

So, either prove me wrong and regale me with tales of your own experiences with spell creation such as Nimble's Naughty Nibbler (a cantrip to make people think they have a rat infestation), Jocul's Jolly Jape (a Bard spell that causes profound embarrasment) or Korl's Elemental Fury (for OTT elemental damage). That or tell me exactly why we, as a community that prides itself on its creativity, simply don't use this particular aspect of the game.

[Gaiyamato]

Too much downtime, too much XP cost.
I find my Wizards are often better off spending their time on item creation or researching existing spells at a library or somesuch.
When the party has downtime I often try to do little solo side adventures to earn that tiny bit extra XP if I have nothing more useful to do.

I did research a spell once in 2nd ed. But that was just so I could get a spell with the right wording to make a nice shiny sword for the party fighter to weild for me. lol.

[Starbuck_II]

Usually, it isn't done because most DMs are caustious of crafting spells/powers.

[Starscream]

I've had players who made alterations to existing spells. Usually changing the energy type, or accepting reduced effects for a longer duration or something.

Never really gotten involved with actual spell creation. Guess I assume that with the tons of supplements I've never even had a chance to look at, the right spell for any given situation is already out there somewhere.

[Korivan]

Usually when I craft spells, its just to bring in versions of spells that WOTC put out on computer, but I cant find any other source material. Like, Issac's Many Missile Storm (Never Winter Nights 1, not 2 when it was butchered), the Breech spells, Executioners Eyesight (Icewind Dale 2), and so on. I know computer and pen/paper shouldnt always mix, but I like those spells, and think they are worth it.

[Keld Denar]

Semi-on-topic, but Hackmaster used to have rules for pirated spells. Normally, if you cast a spell someone else has copyrighted (IE, has their name in it), you'd have to pay royalties. Just another of the minor absurdities to love about Hackmaster.

[nysisobli]

I just invented a spell!!!

Nysisobli's thread necromancy!

[mistformsquirrl]

My primary reason is two-fold; though the reasons tie together.

1) It's very hard to come up with an effect that's not already done in some fashion.

2) The few cases you CAN come up with a wholly new spell idea; at least in my experience, DMs tend to put the kibosh on it because Magic is already crazy powerful.

The only success I've ever had is with pure damage spells that aren't any more powerful than the already existent ones, they merely cover different areas or use different elements.

[Johel]

Fluff reason :
In fact, many wizards do create new spells but it's a really complicateand lenghty research process. Often, one lifetime isn't enough. The few wizards who become liches aren't the ones to share their secrets. For most of the others, their work is just lost and forgotten. And if a wizard complete a new spell, there's no garantee it'll survive him anyway.

• His spellbook can be destroyed with him.
• He can never have had apprentices.
• He can have had apprentices but not enough time to teach them.
• He can have had apprentices and have taught them the spell but the apprentices think it's a useless one and never taught it to their own apprentices...or even simply erase it once the old guy died.

Even if a spell is transmitted for a few generations in a specific region, he can simply be forgotten because all users haven't been able to transmit the knowledge...or because of some divine-sponsored cataclysm.

The actual spell list makes up the most well-known spells. Those have been around for centuries and have proved their usefulness. So many written copies exist and the process of research has been done so many time that, for most spellcasters, it isn't that difficult to re-discover them by accident while sniffing around a library or "trial and error" for new spells.

Crunch reason :
Now, don't be silly.
Most effect can be done through a spell or another. Agreed, all have their downsides but yet...
Epic spellcasting is there for you if you need

[PLUN]

I think the problem is that most DMs these days just let you pick a spell from The Definative Polymorpher or Halfling Arcana as you see fit, like fists pounding against the walls of verisimilitude. I'm guilty of this in just for fun games, but the idea of a setting having all the standard gods and the million classes that the splatbooks have crammed into it is forever absurd.

This is a good time and place to answer 'I want that spell/class/feat/enchanted keychain', with 'how far you willing to go for it?'. The setting remains delightfully intact as another wizard makes a spell so good he put his name on it, safe in the knowledge that while other enemy spellcasters might do the same, this spell, his thumbprint on the arcane, is largely unique to the setting. The crafting spell rules need to see more light in this function, IMO.