Song lyrics as spells?

[Valwyn]

So, after watching a bit of Critical Role, I liked the idea of bards (and other music-inclined characters) using lyrics of songs as spells (you know, ignoring that most verses take more than six seconds to sing). Any ideas of lyrics to represent spells/abilities? All alignments/genres welcome.

Haste/Cat's Grace/Similar:

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Taylor Swift - Shake It Off

I never miss a beat
I'm lightning on my feet
And that's what they don't see, mmm-mmm
That's what they don't see, mmm-mmm

Remove Fear:

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Fear Not This Night

Fear not this night
You will not go astray
Though shadows fall
Still the stars find their way

Animate Dead:

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Andrew Gold - Spooky, scary skeletons ()

Spooky, scary skeletons
Send shivers down your spine
Shrieking skulls will shock your soul
Seal your doom tonight

Earthquake/Erruption:

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Bastille - Pompeii

And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Great clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above

Fly:

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Brave - Touch the Sky

I will ride, I will fly,
Chase the wind and touch the sky,
I will fly,
Chase the wind and touch the sky.

Polymorph/Tenser's Transformation/General Combat Buffs:

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Disturbed - Indestructible

I'll have you know
That I've become
Indestructible
Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible
Take a last look around while you're alive
I'm an indestructible
Master of war

Insipre Courage:

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30 Seconds to Mars – This is War

It's the moment of truth, and the moment to lie,
The moment to live and the moment to die,
The moment to fight, the moment to fight
To fight, to fight, to fight!

To the right, To the left
We will fight to the death!
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
From the last to the first

To the right,
To the left
We will fight to the death!
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
It's a brave new world!

Displacement/Mirror Image/Teleporting:

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MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This ()

Can't touch this
Can't touch this
Can't touch this (oh-oh oh oh oh-oh-oh)
Can't touch this (oh-oh oh oh oh-oh-oh)

Rage:

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Rhapsody of Fire - Knightrider of Doom

IN THIS BLOODY DAWN
I WILL WASH MY SOUL
TO CALL THE SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE
TO DENY MY WISDOM FOR ANGER
TO BREAK THE SCREAM OF THE SILENT FOOL
AND TO BE THE SON OF DOOM...

Breach Enchantment:

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Skillet - Awake and Alive

I'm awake I'm alive
Now I know what I believe inside
Now it's my time
I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life
here (right here), right now (right now)

I'll stand my ground and never back down

I know what I believe inside

I'm awake and I'm alive

Fear:

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Amaranthe – Hunger

Hear me scream
It's unreal, what's inside of me
Broken bones and the code that hunts me
Welcome home, I'm alone, is it gone
What I'm feeling is surreal

World in flames
It's a chase, I'm a cornered man
It's a pulse in my veins, no delays
It's a rain, it's a chamber of dust
As I'm viewing the plains

Feel free to add more!

[comk59]

Sanctuary

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War

War! Huh, yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, uh-huh, uh-huh

I'll think of more when I have the time, but this was what first came to mind.

[Draconium]

Freedom of Movement

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Panic! at the Disco - This is Gospel

"If you love me, let me GGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

#notsorry

[Eno Remnant]

I actually did something very similar to this in an adventure I played a few months back. I converted a number of song lyrics into Latin to represent the hymns of Zaydos' Dragon Chorister class.

It'd be fairly simple to convert them over to actual spells, so I'll put them here (note that the Latin is horribly mangled, because I did it with Google Translate).

Spoiler: Hymns

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Discord: "Discordia ego lunam ululando / involutum et positum in medio fervore diei / discordiae Quidquid facimus / vestros tollet a tyrannide..." (Discord, as remixed by Eurobeat Brony, chorus)

War: "Hoc bellum / vade ad dextram sive ad sinistram / ​​pugnabimus usque ad mortem / extremum terræ / est fortis novum mundum a novissimis usque ad primos..." (This Is War - 30 Seconds To Mars, chorus[?])

Courage: "Sit uirtus / rapere de / e accipe / stabis / arcu accipies..." (Courage - Authority Zero, chorus)

Liberty: "Uidero fratres ac sorores meas / I stare superbe / libertatis *** [come] feceris quod placet in periculo semper / Ego hic in aciebus / sic nocte dormiat in pace..." (American Soldier - Toby Keith, final verse)

Agility: "Debet esse velox sicut aurae fluminis / *** [come] omnibus copiis magno turbine / inferus aemulatio lampades totis uiribus / tenebris quasi occulta latere luna..." (I'll make A Man Out Of You - Mulan Soundtrack, chorus)

Rage: "Hoc est a novo quodam / superbia in alio / infeliciter obumbratur ab omni ira tuam duriorem frontibus..." (Can't actually remember this one, will edit it in when I do Oh right, this isn't a song. It's a line from Vegeta in Dragonball Z Abridged.)

Destruction: "Sed pretium aedificanti eximius potentia / *** [come] vitae finis interitus / ferro, si virum veneno veru..." (Rasputin vs Stalin - Epic Rap Battles of History, first rap)

Overbearing: "Mihi donec moriamini / dum leve / vester mea umbra requiescite / quia oblitus sum contrarius..." (Can't remember this one either)

Protection: "Quam aedificare cupio loco / aliquid prodigiosus / iusta causa defendat nos / sub sole / corda dignissim duos nusquam currere..." (Under A Paper Moon - All Time Low, first verse)

Spoiler: Translations

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Discord: "Discord, I'm howling at the moon/And sleeping in the middle of a summer afternoon/Discord, whatever will we do/To take your tyranny away..."

War: "This is war/To the right, to the left/We will fight, to the death/To the edge, of the Earth/It's a brave new world from the last to the first..."

Courage: "It's your courage/ Take 'em on/Take 'em out/Take a stand/Take a bow..."

Liberty: "Beside my brothers and my sisters/I will proudly take a stand/When liberty's in jeopardy/I will always do what's right/I'm out here on the front lines/ So sleep in peace tonight..."

Agility: I don't think this bears translating. Start at "You must be swift as a coursing river" and keep going from there.

Rage: "This is a new feeling. Pride in somebody else. Unfortunately, it's overshadowed by all this unyielding rage..."

Destruction: "You built a superpower/But you paid the price, with the endless destruction of [Russian] lives/If you're a man of steel, I spit poison [Kryptonite]..."

Protection: "I'm building a place/Something amazing/Just for the sake of saving us/From under the Sun/Two plastic hearts with nowhere to run..."

[Valwyn]

Keep it coming guys!

Combustion/Setting people on fire:

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Alicia Keys - Girl on Fire

This girl is on fire...
This girl is on fire...
She's walking on fire...
This girl is on fire...

Plane Shift:

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AC/DC - Highway to Hell

I'm on the highway to hell
On the highway to hell
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell

Irresistible Dance:

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Cuban Pete

They call me Cuban Pete. I'm the king of the rhumba beat.
When I play the maracas I go chick-chicky-boom, chick-chicky boom
Yes sir, I'm Cuban Pete. I'm the craze of my native street.
When I start to dance, everything goes chick-chicky-boom, chick-chicky boom

[Red Fel]

Alright, I've got a bunch. They're all 3.5-based, but the general concept can be applied to pretty much any similar concept. Let's go.

Spoiler: Love's Pain

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Say goodbye to music
Say goodbye to light
Anything [you] care for, take it from [your] sight
Let [you] see no future
Let [you] hear no sound
Only darkness and pain
The anger and pain
The blood and the pain
They['ll] bur[y] [your] heart in the ground
In the ground
When they['ll] bur[y] her[/him] in the ground
- Ragtime, "Coalhouse's Soliloquy"

I had to make some modifications, because the original was sung in the first person and past tense, and this should be in the second person and future. But otherwise... Dark, right?

How about something lighter?

Spoiler: Geas/Quest

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I put a spell on you
And now you're mine
You can't stop the things I do
I ain't lyin'

I put a spell on you
And now you're gone
My whammy fell on you
And it was strong

Your wretched little lives have all been cursed
'Cause of all the witches working, I'm the worst

I put a spell on you
And now you're mine
- Hocus Pocus, "I Put a Spell on You"

I had to cut some bits out of the middle, but on the whole I think it works great. Bonus if you turn it into a whole song and dance routine.

Next! A batch from the same musical.

Spoiler: True Seeing

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Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder
No disguise can conceal your repertoire
Passions rise, and the alibis grow bolder
Still the eye of this beholder
Sees you for who you are
- The Witches of Eastwick, "Eye of the Beholder"

Spoiler: Song of Discord

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The notes carry on in their endless campaign
The chords have turned darker where once they were plain
The air's growing warmer with every refrain
The room's getting hotter, the sound is insane
- The Witches of Eastwick, "Waiting for the Music to Begin"

Spoiler: Miracle

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I think the words
I speak the thought
The moon shines bright
The night grows hot
Let the heavens give us all they've got
- The Witches of Eastwick, "Make Him Mine"

OR

The moon shines bright
The night is blessed
Let the heavens grant us our request
The heavens hear us if they dare
Hear our prayer, hear our prayer
Hear our prayer, hear our prayer
- The Witches of Eastwick, "Wedding"

Moving on.

Spoiler: Hide Life

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Let [my] flesh not be torn
Let [my] blood leave no stain
Though they beat [me]
Let [me] feel no pain
Let [my] bones never break
And however they try
To destroy [me]
Let [me] never die
Let [me] never die
- Wicked, "No Good Deed

Yeah. Had to convert another from third to first person.

Next!

Spoiler: Call Mount

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Ride
Ride
Ride
Ride
Thunder
Thunder
Thunder
Thunder
Thunderhorse
Thunderhorse
Thunderhorse
Thunderhorse
- Dethklok, "Thunderhorse"

Hey, it does what it says.

[DRD1812]

I always wanted to make an 80s van art campaign. Every session corresponds to the lyrics of a specific song.

Run to the Hills: Defend a village from invaders.

Enter Sandman: Night hags. All the time night hags.

Crazy Train: A kind of magical stone powers the world's first locomotive, but the fumes make passengers psychotic.

Rock You Like a Hurricane: A werewolf bard refuses to cancel his big concert, despite the weather conditions.

Pour Some Sugar on Me: Giant ants are invading. The players have to lead them away from the city. But how to attract ants...?

Etc. etc. I'd make the players run through the session and then play the corresponding song over the climactic encounter. At the end of the campaign everybody gets a mix CD.

[Knaight]

Some of these are way out of context in terms of the original song*, but here's a few. I decided to go with two per band:

Locate City: Where the hood, where the hood, where the hood at? (DMX, Where the hood at?)
Meteor Swarm: Let it blow with convulsive force / Til walls fall off their false supports (Flobots, Same Thing)
Tenser's Transformation: This candy give me courage not to fear no one / To feel no pain and hear no tongue / So I hear no screams and I shed no tear / If I'm in your dreams, then your end is near, it's you (Lupe Fiasco, Little Weapon)
Sending: X gon give it to ya / $&@* wait for you to get it on your own / X gon deliver to ya / Knock knock, open up the door, it's real (DMX, X Gon Give it to Ya)
Sanctuary: So study war no more this millennium/ It's never again for me or anyone/ So think harder when you refer to us/ Rather make our children martyrs than murders (Flobots, White Flag Warriors)
Magic Circle against Law: Crooked banks around the world/ Would gladly give a loan today/ So if you ever miss a payment/ They can take your home away! (Lupe Fiasco, Words I Never Said)

*Which is deliberate, as most of these get pretty political once you put the context back in.

[Âmesang]

Not quite the same thing, but would it be wrong to give bards some sort of wail of the banshee variant named "megadeth?"

Also I don't know how up-to-date this is, but years ago I made myself a copy of Sooth's disciple of metal bard prestige class. It just happened to come to mind…

[Red Fel]

Not quite the same thing, but would it be wrong to give bards some sort of wail of the banshee variant named "megadeth?"

To be fair, this guy has a spell named Megadeth.



And Venom. And Exodus. And Judas Priest. And so on, and so on...

[Mister Tom]

I am the god of hell fire and I bring you:

Fire
I'll take you to burn.
Fire
I'll take you to learn.
I'll see you burn!
You fought hard and you saved and learned

But all of it's going to burn

I've temporarily forgotten the spell though

[Madbox]

Spoiler: Feather Fall

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Energy of the gods, adrenaline surge
Won't stop 'til I hit the ground, I'm on my way for sure
Up here in the air, this will never hurt
I'm on my way to impact, taste the high speed dirt
-High Speed Dirt, by Megadeth

Spoiler: Silence

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Vows are spoken
To be broken
Feelings are intense
Words are trivial
Pleasures remain
So does the pain
Words are meaningless
And forgettable
-Enjoy the Silence, by Depeche Mode

[Valwyn]

I'm gonna have to look up some of these songs.

Locate Creature:

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Deloris & The Sisters/Sister Act - I Will Follow Him

I will follow Him,
Follow Him wherever He may go,
There isn't an ocean too deep,
A mountain so high it can keep,
Keep me away,

Energy Immunity:

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Frozen - Let It Go (You thought you'd freed yourself from that song, did you? )

The cold never bothered me, anyway

(Okay, so it only applies to one type...)

Shield Other:

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Beyonce - Single Ladies

Cause if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it
If you liked it then you should've put a ring on it
Don't be mad once you see that he want it
If you liked it then you should've put a ring on it

Inspire Competence/Heroism/Skill Buffs:

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Pokemon - Born to be a Winner

My whole life has led to this
Time to test my skill
I know that I just can't miss
Gonna show the world

Born to be a winner
Born to be a champion
Born to be a winner
Born to be the very best [Campaign Name]
Born to be a winner
[Campaign]!

(I know speaking of competence and the anime is kind of a contradiction, but still fits)

Augury/Simple divinations:

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Princess and the Frog - Friends on the Other Side

The cards, the cards, the cards will tell
The past, the present, and the future as well!
The cards, the cards, just take three
Take a little trip into your future with me!

Longstrider/Transport via Plants/Druidic movement

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Pocahontas - Savages

Eagle, help my feet to fly
Mountain, help my heart be great
Spirits of the earth and sky...
Please don't let it be to late...

I might list some more later. Maybe I should copypaste everyone into the first post...

[goto124]

Spoiler: Feather Fall

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Energy of the gods, adrenaline surge
Won't stop 'til I hit the ground, I'm on my way for sure
Up here in the air, this will never hurt
I'm on my way to impact, taste the high speed dirt
-High Speed Dirt, by Megadeth

How does one sing the song fast enough for the spell to take effect before hitting the ground?

[Madbox]

How does one sing the song fast enough for the spell to take effect before hitting the ground?

Obviously, if it's a long enough fall it's not a problem. Otherwise, you substitute it with the last line of the song: a four letter word and a crunch.

[Cluedrew]

I can think of a lot of musical magic-users use sounds/instrumentals, not so many use songs with lyrics. Some, and they generally use original songs.

Spoiler: Silence

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Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a streetlamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dare
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools” said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said “The words of the prophets
Are written on subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence”

-The Sound of Silence: Simon & Garfunkel

Italics part is if you wanted to cut it down to a reasonable chant.

[Cary Oakey]

Silence spell Verbal Component

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re-written with Heavy-Metal lyrics from Azrael by Crimson Glory

I am the darkness
Hiding within your mind
Walking beside you
I lock the gates to hell
I toll the final bell
I am forever
I am the blinding light
Probing the endless night
There's no escaping me
Wake in your darkest dreams
Go ahead and try to scream
No one can hear you now

[Pauly]

AC/DC have you covered.

Earthquake: You Shook Me All Night Long

Lightning: High Voltage.

More Lightning: Thunderstruck

Even More Lightning: Powerage

Meteor Storm: Let There Be Rock.

Summon Undead: Hell’s Bells

Summon More Undead: Highway to Hell

Summon Even More Undead: Hell Ain’t a Bad Place To Be.

Summon Shadows: Night Prowler

Fireball: TNT

Sanctuary: Jailbreak.

Dispel Illusion: Shot Down in Flames

Immunity to fear: For Those About To Rock (We Salute You).

Find Old Man Questgiver: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.

Summon Giant: Whole Lotta Rosie

Freeze: Black Ice

Inflict Disease: The Jack

Resurrection: Back in Black

Stoneskin: Hard as a Rock

Magic Missile: Heatseeker

[Vahnavoi]

So, after watching a bit of Critical Role, I liked the idea of bards (and other music-inclined characters) using lyrics of songs as spells (you know, ignoring that most verses take more than six seconds to sing). Any ideas of lyrics to represent spells/abilities? All alignments/genres welcome.

That bolded part? Don't ignore. It makes infinitely more sense to actually clock the time a real human would take to sing or recite a spell, and then use that as basis for how long the action takes in a game.

The irony of this kind of thread is that the very idea of verbal spell components was inspired by things like Finnish-Karelian and Scandinavian myth, where song and poetry is how spellcasting is done. To this day, you can crack open a copy of, say, Kalevala, and find actual traditional spell verses to sing - and Youtube tutorials on how to sing them. Rendered into contemporary music, this becomes things like Heilung's Elddansurin (words for firestarting), Amorphis's Brother of Fire (birthing words of iron), or Vilma Jää's Saatanan Saalistaja (words for rebuking evil).

For other traditions, Beelzebub's Blackened Call has a part to it that's pretty much how you'd do a traditional occult summoning, and there's more serious Black Metal music doing the same. Then you have stuff like Rotting Christ's Devadevam, which is just a traditional shaivist prayer.

[Quertus]

The irony of this kind of thread is that the very idea of verbal spell components was inspired by things like Finnish-Karelian and Scandinavian myth, where song and poetry is how spellcasting is done.

That could explain why, originally, a round was a minute.

I figure, problem was, it felt bad to say a Fighter could only fire 2 arrows in a minute, so they changed it.

[Vahnavoi]

As far as I recall, casting times have always been variable, so I'm not sure that had anything directly to do with this, but yes, a minute is a more reasonable time window for actually reciting a spell; talking is very far from a free action in reality, after all.

[Pex]

Sending

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"Call me" - Blondie
Call me (Call me) on the line
Call me, call me any, anytime
Call me (Call me) I'll arrive
You can call me any day or night
Call me

Hunter's Mark/Locate Person

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"One Way Or Another" - Blondie
One way or another, I'm going to find ya
I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya
One way or another I'm going to win ya
I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya
One way or another I'm gonna see ya
I'm gonna meet ya, meet ya, meet ya, meet ya
One day, maybe next week, I'm gonna meet you
I'm gonna meet ya, I'll meet ya

Irresistible Dance

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"Dancing Queen" - ABBA
You can dance, you can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh, see that girl, watch that scene
Digging the dancing queen

[Oerkali]

I tend to do this pretty often, so here's a few songs that I use for my bards' spells:

Fireball: Great Balls of Fire, Jerry Lee Lewis

Danse Macabre: Thriller, Michael Jackson (obviously the zombies rise doing the Thriller dance)

Otto's Irresistible Dance: Magic Dance, David Bowie

Thunderclap: Thunderstruck, AC/DC

Sleep: Jigglypuff's song, from Pokemon

Wall of Fire: Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash

Confusion: Everything You Know is Wrong, Weird Al Yankovic

[Pex]

Plane Shift

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Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby

Jump

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Oh, can't you see me standing here?
I got my back against the record machine
I ain't the worst that you've seen
Oh, can't you see what I mean?

Ah, might as well jump (Jump!)
Might as well jump
Go ahead and jump (Jump!)
Go ahead and jump

Healing Word/Cure Wounds/Heal/Regenerate

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The foot bone connected to the leg bone,
The leg bone connected to the knee bone,
The knee bone connected to the thigh bone,
The thigh bone connected to the back bone,
The back bone connected to the neck bone,
The neck bone connected to the head bone,
Oh, hear the word of the Lord!

Control Weather

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Raindrops are fallin' on my head
And just like the guy whose feet
Are too big for his bed
Nothin' seems to fit
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head
They keep fallin'

Sleep

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Lullaby and goodnight, with roses bedight
With lilies o'er spread is baby's wee bed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed

[Pauly]

I tend to do this pretty often, so here's a few songs that I use for my bards' spells:

Wall of Fire: Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash

I thought that was for - Inflict Disease (Dysentery).

On the same note

Cure Disease (Constipation) - Let It Go from Frozen.

The irony of this kind of thread is that the very idea of verbal spell components was inspired by things like Finnish-Karelian and Scandinavian myth, where song and poetry is how spellcasting is done. To this day, you can crack open a copy of, say, Kalevala, and find actual traditional spell verses to sing - and Youtube tutorials on how to sing them. Rendered into contemporary music, this becomes things like Heilung's Elddansurin (words for firestarting), Amorphis's Brother of Fire (birthing words of iron), or Vilma Jää's Saatanan Saalistaja (words for rebuking evil).

You do know the etymology of the English word “enchant’? “Chant” derives from the Latin word “Cantare” which means to sing

[Vahnavoi]

I knew that and thought of making the same point, just coming from the word "incantation". I dropped it because the etymology wasn't relevant to my point.

[KorvinStarmast]

It makes infinitely more sense to actually clock the time a real human would take to sing or recite a spell, and then use that as basis for how long the action takes in a game.

In D&D 5e, I require those casting the spell wish to express the wish in six seconds or less. Yes, the casting time is one action (which is six seconds)

Spoiler: Nice point

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The irony of this kind of thread is that the very idea of verbal spell components was inspired by things like Finnish-Karelian and Scandinavian myth, where song and poetry is how spellcasting is done. To this day, you can crack open a copy of, say, Kalevala, and find actual traditional spell verses to sing - and Youtube tutorials on how to sing them. Rendered into contemporary music, this becomes things like Heilung's Elddansurin (words for firestarting), Amorphis's Brother of Fire (birthing words of iron), or Vilma Jää's Saatanan Saalistaja (words for rebuking evil).

See also the Music of the Ainur. FWIW, a variety of SF&F stories have a link between music and magic, not to mention the Song of the Sirens in the tales of Brave Ulysses. And Harpies.
Come To Me (P Diddy) might work there depending on the table.

I tend to do this pretty often, so here's a few songs that I use for my bards' spells:
Fireball: Great Balls of Fire, Jerry Lee Lewis
Danse Macabre: Thriller, Michael Jackson (obviously the zombies rise doing the Thriller dance)
Otto's Irresistible Dance: Magic Dance, David Bowie
Thunderclap: Thunderstruck, AC/DC
Sleep: Jigglypuff's song, from Pokemon
Wall of Fire: Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash
Confusion: Everything You Know is Wrong, Weird Al Yankovic

For resilient sphere, I tend to use an excerpt of the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter
"Gimme, gimme shelter, or, I'm gonna fade away"
Or you can use the opening lyric if it's against a storm spell of some kind ...

Oooh, the storm is threatnin' my very life today, if I don't get some shelter, oh yeah, I'm gonna fade awaay

Cure Disease (Constipation) - Let It Go from Frozen.

*Cackle*

A few posts back someone pointed out how well AC DC songs work. I heartily agree.

[Quertus]

In D&D 5e, I require those casting the spell wish to express the wish in six seconds or less. Yes, the casting time is one action (which is six seconds)

Wow, and I thought *I* was evil with wishes, and pushed for player skills.

[Draconi Redfir]

Revivify, Resurrection, or Reincarnation:

SAINT MOTEL: A good song never dies.

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And when they play it, you can't help but sing along
That's nothin' odd, that's nothin' wrong
'Cause a good song never dies
It just reminds you of where you were
The first time it made you cry, the first time you felt alive
No, a good song never
No, a good song never
The first time it made you cry, the first time you felt alive
No, a good song never
Dies

[KorvinStarmast]

Wow, and I thought *I* was evil with wishes, and pushed for player skills.

Spoiler: when you wish upon a star ...

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I don't monkey paw as a default. What I want to avoid is the caveat after caveat problem that old school wishing (which often had to account for a monkey paw) devolved into. While that exercise is occasionally amusing, it's mostly a waste of table time.

Also: it's right there in the book. Casting time, one action. Component: verbal.

I give the player time to work out how they want to succinctly phrase their wish, just as I give players a few questions before their action declaration on their turn.

We have had about a half dozen wishes since I began playing 5e. I arrived at this approach because I want people to think about how to state a wish, but I don't want it to turn into a legalese exercise.

It works. The players have made it work.

The most recent wish was at the end of a quest which the party successfully accomplished.
The djinn granted them one wish. This was announced at the end of the session.
I told the players: "Talk this over before next session, and then decide on what wish you want to make."
They did, and it ended up working out incredibly well.
They chose to wish for cold resistance for the whole party.
Between a couple of blizzards, and then running the whole Frost Giant module (Tales from the Yawning Portal) starting about four sessions after that, they time and again were thankful for having chosen that wish. (Winter wolves are a lot less of a problem, as are Yetis, when you all have cold resistance).

And once again, you are wrongfully attributing malice to me for no reason at all.
Please stop it.