Rank 1 Genius Spells

The following are the current draft of the 1st level spells which I created for my wizard stand in for the Hell Game, the Genius. My thoughts here are to create spells which are powerful, versatile, and interesting. I also tried to not over define things and constrain the spells' uses and instead provide wiggle room for player and DM.

I think all of these provide diverse and interesting options for play except for Wizard Legs and Wizard Eyes. Wizard Legs is only used in two ways (casting on self or an ally), but provides interesting actions which the Genius and others can take and reinforces the whole coward idea, so I'm ok with it. Wizard Eyes seems to bring into question whether a self referential reality (as Alex likes to put it) would even have hidden signs which to interpret. I already am planning on not really having multiple languages. I think I'm going to leave it in for now as a "hint" spell, which can let me tell the player things which they may have missed or may not put together on their own, though that implies that I shouldn't be giving hints otherwise. Hmmm...

As always I would love feed back, and specifically if these spells sound fun and inspire interesting and cool actions.

Wizard Orbs from the AD&D PH

Rank 1 Genius Spells:


Read the Signs/Wizard Eyes

This spell allows the caster to read the nature of phenomenon normally too ephemeral or esoteric to easily observe. This includes being able to comprehend magical runes, learn adjectives of artifacts, or understand effects of powerful abilities.


Present/Wizard Grab

This spell allows the Genius to magically cause an object which is visible within 10 feet of them to appear in their hand. If there are complications (intervening objects, partial view, tightly held/fastened objects, ect.) then the spell has a chance to fail. This spell can also be cast in reverse to instead magically place an object in the Genius' hand somewhere within 10 feet with the same restrictions.


Stick/Wizard Glue

This spell causes the Genius to be able to create a thick, gooey substance which hardens after a round into an all but unbreakable adhesive. This glue can be made for 1 round/lvl of the Genius after casting.


Grease/Wizard Grease

This spell allows the Genius to spread a slippery and flammable oil like substance over an area or object. Handling greased objects or walking on greased surfaces is incredibly difficult, and requires regular checks to avoid failure. Each casting provides enough grease to cover about an 100 sq. ft. area plus 10 sq. ft. /lvl of the Genius.


Fog/Wizard Mist

This spell allows the Genius to create a thick soupy mist which lowers visibility to about 10 feet and hampers the effects of fires. The Genius can make 100,000 cub. ft. plus another 10,000 cub. ft./lvl, and the fog lasts about an hour.


Escape/Wizard Legs

This spell give the Genius' target powerful locomotion abilities allowing them to run and jump about twice as fast or far as normal. This effect lasts about 1 hour/lvl of the Genius.


Dancing Lights/Wizard Orbs

This spells creates a few flying glowy orbs which the Genius can control. These orbs can fly at a rapid pace anywhere the Genius can see, can provide reasonable illumination, and last as long as the Genius is able to concentrate on them.