RE: Common Magic Spell - Chill (Questions)

[Raegenhere (Huscarl)]

Just want to bounce something off with the forum with regard to the Common Magic Spell called 'Chill'.

It says 'drastically lower the temperature of any mundane object' - could I get an idea from you what you think of the following:

1. Freeze metal hinges and / or lock in a door so that it is securely jammed in place so it would require some Brawn roll or something like that to force entry OR wait until the hinges have re-warmed.

2. If I touched someone's sword and scabbard could I 'the frost, it sometimes makes the blade stick.' (like in the movie Gladiator).

3. The spell (unlike Ignite) doesn't say anything about a resistance roll being needed by the wearer / wielder if I cast it against something belonging to them. For example, (a) could I 'freeze' the arrows in a quiver so they are stuck together?, (b) could I 'freeze' the bowstring that that until it is thawed out it can't be used, (c) could I 'freeze' their metal armour to make it very uncomfortable or inflict some minor damage on them?

4. Could I 'freeze' water in stone to make the stone crack? For example, if I was kept in a prison and the wall was water-logged, could I 'freeze' the wall to make the stone crack and weaken it?

5. The spell description doesn't say the area or volume that I can affect with the spell?

6. If I spilled a barrel of water on the ground, could I 'freeze' the water into ice to make the surface slippery to force people to make Athletics rolls when the walk on it / try to cross over the surface?

7. Could I throw a drink in a person's face and 'freeze' it on their face causing them to be distracted, something along the lines of throwing sand in their eyes / temporarily blinding them?

8. If I 'froze' my sword while wearing gloves to protect myself, when I strike with it, could it cause additional 'cold' damage?

9. When it says the caster can lower, does that mean the caster can determine the exact temperature?

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

You probably could not freeze objects together that were not soaked, or immersed in water (i.e. points 1, 2 & 3a).

It depends on GM fiat and campaign style really though.

 

[Raegenhere (Huscarl)]

OK, makes sense with the water really acting as the glue to bind them together.

Just further on the effects of freezing, with metal contracting, it might be possible to make a weapon such as a sword fall apart depending on GM fiat?

So, basically, the spell as a 1 point magnitude spell can be as powerful or as weak as the GM wants or allows for the imagination of the player to work with - correct?

===

Come to think of it, just on the comment about 'glueing' I don't have the old RQ, but wasn't there a 'Glue' Battle Magic spell?

 

[Loz]

So, basically, the spell as a 1 point magnitude spell can be as powerful or as weak as the GM wants or allows for the imagination of the player to work with - correct?

Its not correct that it can be as powerful as the GM or player wants. Look at the examples given - which, whilst rather loose, do illustrate the possibilities. Chilling a drink, making a sword stick in the scabbard and so on are fine. But causing a weapon to shatter is not. This is a Chill spell; not a freeze spell.

The idea of the looseness of the spell's description is to allow for a wide variety of relatively mild - but useful - effects. You couldn't freeze water with this spell, but you could make a hot bath a lot cooler, or keep ice from melting too quickly. The clue, I think, is in both the spell's name and its Magnitude.

 

[Raegenhere (Huscarl)]

So, basically, the spell as a 1 point magnitude spell can be as powerful or as weak as the GM wants or allows for the imagination of the player to work with - correct?

Its not correct that it can be as powerful as the GM or player wants. Look at the examples given - which, whilst rather loose, do illustrate the possibilities. Chilling a drink, making a sword stick in the scabbard and so on are fine. But causing a weapon to shatter is not. This is a Chill spell; not a freeze spell.

The idea of the looseness of the spell's description is to allow for a wide variety of relatively mild - but useful - effects. You couldn't freeze water with this spell, but you could make a hot bath a lot cooler, or keep ice from melting too quickly. The clue, I think, is in both the spell's name and its Magnitude.

Thanks for that Loz, I was trying to see the boundary for this spell. The Ignite (2 point spell) can be very effective when used correctly - burn the bow string, burn the quiver, etc.

This spell would be good for a Blacksmith doing metal working for controlling quench when cooling metal.

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

I have to admit I initially replied not having a copy to hand, so mis-remembered the power level of the spell.

However, thinking about it, I can't see that it would even be able to lock a sword in a scabbard... they would be far too well greased and oiled.

 

[Draconis13]

Uses for this spell are about as varied as what the GM will let you do with it. The fun of common magic is trying to use it in innovative ways to get you out of a bad situation. I can imagine this spell being used on armor possibly your own in a hot climate to perhaps stave off heat related injuries. or on an opponents to possibly make them resist fatigue or take a slight penalty for fighting in extremely cold armor.

As its common magic it also has practical uses like causing a metal pail of milk to stay cold or other cold beverage related abilities which a innkeeper would use to increase business.

While by itself the spell just makes metal cold but not frozen and apt to shatter casting it on a red hot sword made hot by magic or other means could negate the heat related damage inflicted by that weapon or possibly damage it by instantly cooling it down.

Situational useful like most non combat related spells.