NatheQuest 2026: Perfect Spell System
Spells & Magic:
It is an act of will to compress a spell, with all its truth and vastness, inside a human head. Ancient races of men built and destroyed themselves by magic; leave it buried or become a wizard, an accursed being doomed by knowledge beyond man’s kenning. Not doomed by any curse or hex save that of hubris—what does it mean to reshape the fabric of the world? How could it ever be right to make the truth into a lie?
To learn a spell, a source of magic—typically a tome—must be studied thoroughly: this takes 2d6 weeks unless otherwise noted and produces a number of miscellaneous study materials (books, scrolls, etc) equal to half the weeks spent studying. Each apprentice employed reduces this length by 1 week. Once this process is complete, the spells is mastered. Keep the notes handy; if lost you will need to recreate them through 1d6 weeks of labour. They act as a key to understanding the spell’s source, and are used when memorizing magic.
To cast a spell it must first be forced into the wizard’s head. This requires a week of labour and a successful 2-in-6 roll. Throw additional dice for the following:
- A library with 1000 Coins with books on the arcane, ancient, etc. Gain an additional dice for a 5000 Coin and 10000 Coin collection.
- Each additional source that contains the same spell.
- 5+ apprentices to assist in study and other labours.
- Take mind expanding drugs.
- Work through the nights and begin the next adventure exhausted.
Once a spell is cast it must be forced into the mind before it can be used again.
Some say there are 108 spells. I only know twenty:
(In the following spell descriptions, note that turn refers to a 10 minute dungeon turn while round refers to a 1 minute combat round)
1: Killing Spell Bolts of iridescent light spring from the caster’s fingers and kill 2d6HD worth of creatures. Those of 4HD+ may save vs. death to resist. Lower HD creatures are always affected first.
2: Myrmidon 1d6 grey-faced warriors (2HD / AC as Chain + Shield / Sword) from an alternate dimension step out of a silver mist armed in lorica segmentata. They disappear at 2d6 turns.
3: Hypnosis The sorcerer works a long and subtle charm, spinning minds round with words spun into a trap. 2d20HD worth creatures are put to sleep if the spell is worked over 1 turn. Creatures of 4HD+ may save vs. spell to resist. Lower HD creatures are always affected first.
Alternatively, whisper into the ear of a single creature. Only a single creature is affected, but it saves at -4.
4: Wall of Power An impenetrable barrier emerges in a wall of the caster’s choosing. Those who strike it are rebuffed; arrows are destroyed; spells turn to naught. Any who try to force their way through the wall must save vs. death or be destroyed, a successful save still deals 3d6 damage. The spell lasts for 1 turn.
5: Thralldom Turn a human of the same HD or lower into a thrall, forever. They may save vs. spell to resist. Whole schools of warding are dedicated to fighting such magics.
6: Storm or Calm For the next hour the wizard reshapes the weather according to their will; lightning bolts strike with Zeus’ fury; great whirlwinds turn villages to ruin; oceans are rocked by swirling storms. Or, a gentle rain waters long cracked sillion, drought ends, and children splash in the mud.
7: Necromancy Revive 2d6HD worth of corpses as servants.
8: Hands A legion of invisible hands crawl and grasp round the sorcerer, eager to do their bidding. The hands remain for 2d6 turns and long to choke, steal, and mischief. In battle, the hands may be sent to grasp and bind up to 1d6 creatures. A save vs. paralysis resists their hold.
9: Psychic Touch an individual’s head and open up their mind completely: sift through their memories, feelings, nostalgias, etc. Knowledge of spells may be stolen in this way. What is taken cannot be returned.
10: Astral Projection The wizard separates their soul from their body and travels freely. Spells may be cast while projected, but the physical world may not otherwise be tampered with. If the caster’s body is destroyed their soul is bound to the world until exorcised.
11: Obliterate A sphere of destruction shatters all objects in a 30’ sphere. Living Statues must save vs. death or be destroyed, if they succeed they take 3d6 damage.
12: Fortune Arrows and blades fail to land true against the subject of Fortune; arrows wheel round them while swords strike short or hit the strong of their armour. For 2d6 turns the subject cannot be harmed by mundane weapons. They may still be wrestled, killed by magical swords, or doomed by spells.
13: Fly Fly like Superman for 2d6 hours.
14: Fireball Point a finger to create a conflagration which deals 6d6 damage to all in a 30’ sphere. Flammable objects quickly catch fire, the flames deal a further 1d6 per round to those exposed.
15: Illusion Appear as any creature or being for 2d6 hours; exact replicas are impossible, for there are always slight differences noticed on a 2-in-6. The spell ends if an attack is made.
16: Crystallize A human is permanently turned to crystal. This spell cannot be avoided.
17: Heal A touched creature is healed to full HP, all limbs are regrown, poisons and diseases are purged. This process takes 1 turn.
18: Teleport The sorcerer instantly teleports anywhere they have stood in the past.
19: Contract Create a document which kills signators who break its terms.
20: Castle Create a fort that lasts for 1d6 days. The structure is stark, and accommodates up to 20 man-sized creatures.
Design Notes
Before I started running my current campaign, Devil's World Heroes, I began cooking up a more distinctly Vance inspired magic system. What I mean is that magic is more impactful but also more arduous to prepare. I ended up backing out from using my own spells in favour of an adjusted Wonders & Wickedness. One of the changes I've made is one I've long been interested in: that being, character's prepare spells between adventures rather than overnight. This didn't end up working out because the spells in Wonders & Wickedness are too weak to be impactful, and because OSR Wizards suck ass after casting spells. The result is that the Magic-users in our campaign would go 2-3 sessions without any spell slots, with no hope of regaining them until the next downtime.
The above is an attempt at a classless magic system that gets homies set up with big libraries, apprentices, etc. The time investment needed for spells (A fourth level Wizard needs to spend a whole month prepping a full suite of magic) should prevent everyone from going hard into magic.
I may alter the precise mechanics around spell preparation. 1-in-6 is rough, though in play the hope is that it will encourage Wizards to invest in the proper infrastructure so they can prep spells without tanking their HP.
Next steps would be to define sources of magic. It'd be fun if the sources of magic were already set up to be inserted into campaign materials. I'm not sure more than 20 spells are needed; I think that's an example of liberal bourgeois excess.