Building Spells

Spells are the most freedom-hungry entries in the compendium — there is no upper bound on what a spell can do, and that is exactly the trap. A good spell is a precise, fully-specified contract: it says what it does, to whom, how far away, for how long, and what stands in its way. A bad spell is a lovely idea with a shrug where the mechanics should be.

The anatomy of a spell entry

Every spell in the Spells folder fills in the same slate:

• level — how demanding the spell is, and so which casters may reach it. This is your power dial: 1st-level spells are small miracles, 9th-level spells rewrite kingdoms. Your spell's power should match its level, or the scale breaks.
• class and school — who may learn it and where it belongs. Wizards draw from the eight schools of magic; priests draw from their deity's spheres. A spell must state the class (and school/sphere) that uses it, or no caster's spellbook will ever hold it.
• components — what casting costs: verbal (a spoken incantation), somatic (a hand's gesture), material (a pinch of this or that; a component pouch holds them). Choose components that match the spell — the classic bat guano and sulphur for fire, a bit of web for entanglement. The components are part of the flavor and part of the balance: a spell with no material cost is that much easier to cast.
• castingTime — in segments for the swift, in rounds or turns for the mighty. This is the spell's price in the combat clock; a powerful spell that also casts instantly is a gun nobody can draw against. Match casting time to power.
• range, areaOfEffect, and duration — the reach, the blast, and the lifetime. Range categories (touch, caster only, short, medium, long) scale by level; duration runs from instantaneous to permanent and may depend on caster level. Be explicit — "affects everything in a wide area" is not a number the referee can run.
• savingThrow — the relief valve. Most offensive spells give a target a save: half damage, negate, or none at all. A spell that is both unmissable and unresistable is rarely fair. Decide what a successful save does, and say so.

The design intent

A spell is a tool with a cost. The tool is the effect — damage, control, knowledge, protection, creation. The cost is the level, the slot it takes from the caster's memorized budget, the casting time, the components, and the save it offers. Wizards carry only what they prepared, so every spell they memorize competes with every other; priests choose from their spheres each dawn. Build spells that earn their slot — distinct, useful, and worth the price — rather than padding the list with forgettable variants on what already exists.

Read the existing list first

Before you invent, read what's already in the Spells folder. The compendium already covers the classic ground — cures and flames, charms and summons, wards and visions. The best new spells do one of three things:

1. Fill a real gap — a niche no existing spell serves, at a level where it belongs.
2. Put a new spin on a staple — a different school or sphere reaching the effect, with a different cost to match.
3. Extend a theme — building toward a specialist wizard's or a deity's portfolio in a way that makes the whole set feel complete.

A spell that duplicates an existing one at a worse or better price adds nothing but confusion. Ask "what does this let a caster do that they could not do before?" — if the answer is nothing, shelve it.

Specificity is mercy

The referee runs your spell live, with players watching. Every ambiguity becomes an argument at the table. State the damage (and its die), the number of targets or the radius, the exact duration, and the exact save — and keep the prose tight so it can be read aloud mid-combat without three rereads. A spell that reads like a contract is not cold; it is kind, because it never leaves the table guessing.

When you finish

Cast the spell mentally from a character sheet: does the caster's class include it, does their school or sphere reach it, can they prepare it at the level claimed, and does the casting time fit combat? Then ask the honest question — would a player spend one of their precious slots on this? If the answer is a genuine, enthusiastic yes, you have built a spell the table will remember.