The Critter of Clay spell chain, Part One

These spells were designed to fill in a gap for low-level enchanters and earth elementalists below the levels needed for making automatons. There were designed by committee, thus the official author is "unknown." As typical with such spells, they require interaction between the player and DM to create the objects, especially if they are permanent.

Base Spell: 

Critter of Clay
SPELL TYPE: Level one mage spell

SCHOOLS: Enchantment
ELEMENTS: Earth
RANGE: Touch
COMPONENTS: M
DURATION: 1 hour per level
CASTING TIME: 1 round
AREA OF EFFECT: 1 ounce of clay
SAVING THROW: None
SOURCE: Unknown
HANDEDNESS: W
INQUEST STATUS: Approved

SPELL DESCRIPTION: The least of the enchanter’s specialized spells, Critter of Clay is a sort of Enchantment cantrip, a creature made of no more than an ounce of clay that has the ability to move as if alive, usually with a clunky, robotic movement. If the spellcaster casts Critter of Clay and Cantrip at the same time, the critter may have a minor cantrip effect, such as being realistically colored, sparkling, giving off a tiny noise or a harmless spark. The mage rolls a spellcraft check (or [(Dex+INT)/2]-5 if the mage lacks spellcraft) when creating the creature, with a bonus of 2 given for artistic ability: sculpture, sculpture and/or imbue, and a +1 for any other relevant skills, such as pottery, create magic items or others the DM feels are appropriate. If the spellcraft check fails, the creature never comes to ‘life,’ and a high but not perfect roll will create a more mobile and believable critter. If the spellcraft roll is perfect (a modified 1) the creature will be permanent. A natural roll of 1 should be rewarded with a creature with both permanency and a rudimentary intelligence, able to do very simple tasks without the mage’s direct sight. Otherwise, the mage must have an almost uninterrupted vision of the critter to continue its movement, if the mage loses contact the critter will continue moving in a straight line or stop until the mage can see it. The material component of this spell is a lump of soft clay or other moldable media, including those manufactured by spells like Craft Steel Vessel. Critter of clay can be rendered permanent with Cantrip Permanency or regular Permanency.

Low Level Modifications and Tangential Spells:

 

 

Permanent Critter of Clay
SPELL TYPE: Level two mage spell

SCHOOLS: Enchantment
ELEMENTS: Earth
RANGE: Touch
COMPONENTS: M
DURATION: Permanent
CASTING TIME: 1 round
AREA OF EFFECT: 1 ounce of clay
SAVING THROW: None
SOURCE: Unknown
HANDEDNESS: W
INQUEST STATUS: Approved

SPELL DESCRIPTION: Permanent Critter of Clay is identical to Critter of Clay with the exception that it is permanent until dispelled or the material the construct is made of is destroyed.

Moldable Blood
SPELL TYPE: Level three mage spell

SCHOOLS: Alteration, Necromancy
ELEMENTS: Water
RANGE: Touch
COMPONENTS: M
DURATION: Permanent
CASTING TIME: 1 round
AREA OF EFFECT: 1 ounce of blood/ 5 levels
SAVING THROW: None
SOURCE: Unknown
HANDEDNESS: W
INQUEST STATUS: Approved

SPELL DESCRIPTION: Moldable Blood transmutes normal humanoid or animal blood into a modeling-clay like substance that may be used as a spell component or even for artistic purposes. Unless kept moist, it will harden as normal clay does, and may be fired in a kiln. If used for spells like Creature of Clay, it may add minor abilities to the finished product at the DM’s discretion. Unless dried or fired, it will still smell or taste like blood, but will not rot.

Adept-level Versions

 

Creature of Clay
SPELL TYPE: Level three mage spell

SCHOOLS: Enchantment
ELEMENTS: Earth
RANGE: Touch
COMPONENTS: M
DURATION: 1 hour per level
CASTING TIME: 1 round
AREA OF EFFECT: 1 ounce of clay
SAVING THROW: None
SOURCE: Unknown
HANDEDNESS: W
INQUEST STATUS: Approved

SPELL DESCRIPTION: An improvement of Critter of Clay, Creature of Clay creates a creature made of no more than an ounce of clay that has the ability to move as if alive, with a rudimentary intelligence, being able to move where directed, fetch an object of no more than half its weight or otherwise carry or move. If the spellcaster casts Creature of Clay and Cantrip at the same time, the creature may have a minor cantrip effect, such as being realistically colored, sparkling, giving off a tiny noise or a harmless spark. The mage rolls a spellcraft check (or [(Dex+INT)/2]-5 if the mage lacks spellcraft) when creating the creature, with a bonus of 2 given for artistic ability: sculpture, sculpture and/or imbue, and a +1 for any other relevant skills, such as pottery, create magic items or others the DM feels are appropriate. If the spellcraft check fails, the creature never comes to ‘life,’and a high but not perfect roll will create a more mobile and believable critter. If the spellcraft roll is perfect (a modified 1) the creature will be permanent. A natural roll of 1 should be rewarded with a creature with both permanency and an improved intelligence, able follow very simple orders. Otherwise, the mage must be either within 50 feet of the creature to continue its movement, or able to see it. If the mage goes too far or loses visual contact it will continue moving in a straight line or stop until the mage can control it. The material component of this spell is a lump of soft clay or other moldable media, including those manufactured by spells like ‘Craft Steel Vessel.’ Creature of Clay can be rendered permanent with Permanency.

 

Critter of Blood
SPELL TYPE: Level three mage spell

SCHOOLS: Enchantment, Necromancy
ELEMENTS: Water
RANGE: Touch
COMPONENTS: M
DURATION: 1 hour per level
CASTING TIME: 1 round
AREA OF EFFECT: 1 ounce of blood
SAVING THROW: None
SOURCE: Unknown
HANDEDNESS: W
INQUEST STATUS: Approved

SPELL DESCRIPTION: Critter of Blood is an improvement on Critter of Clay, a sort of Necromantic and Enchantment cantrip, a creature made of at least an ounce of blood that has the ability to move as if alive, moving with the maximum land agility and speed of a mouse or flying with the maximum air agility and speed of a common bat. If the spellcaster casts Critter of Blood and Cantrip at the same time, the critter may have a minor cantrip effect, such as being realistically colored, sparkling, giving off a tiny noise or a harmless spark. The mage rolls a spellcraft check (or [(Dex+INT)/2]-5 if the mage lacks spellcraft) when creating the creature, with a bonus of 2 given for artistic ability: sculpture, sculpture and/or imbue, and a +1 for any other relevant skills, such as pottery, create magic items or others the DM feels are appropriate. If the spellcraft check fails, the creature never comes to ‘life,’and a high but not perfect roll will create a more mobile and believable critter. If the spellcraft roll is perfect (a modified 1) the creature will be permanent. A natural roll of 1 should be rewarded with a creature with both permanency and the ability to follow minor orders. Otherwise, the mage must have an almost uninterrupted vision of the creature to continue its movement, if the mage loses contact the critter will set a course back to the being whose blood it is made from until the mage can see it and regains control. The material component of this spell is one ounce of blood. Critter of Blood can be rendered permanent with Cantrip Permanency or regular Permanency. Unlike Critter of Clay, a Critter of Blood will always attempt to be in physical contact with the source of the blood it came from unless it is directly under a mage’s control to not move in that direction, thus it can be used to track or carry messages. Also unlike Critter of Clay, the Critter of Blood can be made up to eight ounces in size, and can carry exactly half its weight.

The upper level versions of these spells will be detailed in a future installment.