For this series of posts I will be using the free PDF of the
This is the twelfth part of a series, here are links to the
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Spell Basics
Spells are an interesting thing but to really use them you need to know the basics. First of all is that you need to be able to say the magic words and move your hands to make the magic symbols so if your gagged, silenced, or bound then you can't cast spells. Next is you have to decide if and what you want to cast before initiative is rolled for the round. This is half because if you for instance waited till your actual action you may for instance choose to target someone else because the person you where going to target died and half because if you get damaged you could lose the spell you where going to cast so if you had not decided which spell then which one do you lose?
An interesting quirk some spells have is that they are reversible. For Magic Users this means not much beyond a couple extra spells as the reverse for them is just another spell. When you consider Clerics though it can get interesting. They can use either form of the spell without specifically memorizing which side of the spell they want. The rules do add that the DM can limit this if something is against the beliefs of the cleric's god and that you may annoy your good if you cast spells against you alignment but there is no hard rule here with it all left up to interpretation.
Now for something that seems a little late, what your beginning spells are. Magic Users and Elves start with a few more spells then they can cast, more specifically two first level spells and a second level spell and further spells can only be added through game play. Now why does it appear here instead of in character creation? Because of duplication or more precisely the limiting of duplication, if you had it for each character you would have to say it twice and in a place it may get lost among the words. Here in the spell section it has its own heading and only needs to be said once.
Cleric Spells
Overall Clerics have less spells not only by level but in levels as well. In the book at each level there are 8 spells for a cleric while a Magic User has 12 and a Cleric only has spells up to 7th level instead of 9th. To offset this of course a Cleric can memorize any spell of a level that they want and don't have to bother with things like a spell book.
As for the spells while there is some overlap with the Magic User spells most of the spells are cleric only. Of course I could go through and tell you each spell a Cleric has but that would be going overboard so lets highlight some of the more Clericy spells.
Of course first is the whole line of "Cure ___ Wounds" spells. These are spells that heal hitpoints and well thats what they do, nothing complicated about them besides knowing how to properly use them. They can greatly reduce down time as it takes a long time to heal HP naturaly.
The other iconic thing is Resurrection and its little brother Raise Dead. The Magic User may have a spell or so that can technically bring you back to life but a Cleric has the spells that do it with the fewest strings attached. Both of the spells are relativly high level but that won't stop the players from wanting to find someone that can cast them for when their adventure gets them in deeper then they could handle.
Arcane Spells
These are the spells that the Magic User and the Elf share. Of course an Elf can only know up to fifth level spells so I guess I will have to highlight a spell not only from the first level and last but fifth level as well. Anyway once again and more so I don't want to go through every spell so here is some highlights.
1d6+1 of damage that always hits it target. Thats right the Magic Missile, a spell that never misses in basically any normal circumstance. Even better every five levels (5th, 10th, 15th, and so on) you add two more missiles. Even better you can make each missile go where you want which makes this spell worth it even at higher levels. Whether taking out the front line of a charging group of kobolds or pounding on a tough opponent its a spell that most directly turns magical power into damage.
For the obligatory fifth level spell I have chosen Wall of Stone. While there are a couple wall spells before it the wall of stone is the highest level and most solid of them. Sure it could be overshadowed by other spells at its level like cloudkill or teleport, I have a slight... fascination with wall spells. Instantly a permanent wall of up to 1000 cubic feet in any shape as long as you don't try to create it with something in it and it rests on a solid surface. This could mean a wall between you and those archers over there or with a little planning you could even make a decent rest house at the end of the day to stay in. Definitly on my list of spells to have.
And finally we have Wish. What do you Wish for? No really I am asking you, the audience, what do you wish for? The only limits on the spell in Labyrinth Lord is what the DM puts on it. Wish is the purest form of magic though usually used in greed. If I had a Magic User who could cast it thats basically the point where I retire him. Either the spell will be limited by the DM to not be fun anymore or its not limited and breaks the game so lets assume you have a first level character who has a wish owed to them, once again I ask you all What, Do, You, Wish?
This is the twelfth part of a series, here are links to the
1st,
2nd,
3rd, 4th,
5th,
6th,
7th,
8th,
9th,
10th, and
11th parts
