101 0-level spells

By Thilo Graf

This pdf from Rite Publishing is 24 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD and 2 pages advertisements, leaving 19 pages for 101 o-level spells. Let’s dive in!

After three pages of spell-lists, we get to the spells. The spells are:

1. Alter Taste (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Changes taste, but not after the spell is cast.
2. Animate Tools (Brd, Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Accomplishes mundane tasks with your craft or profession skill
3. Antagonize Wound(Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Deal 2 points of damage by touching a wound, 1 on a successful save.
4. Askew Balance (Clr, Sor/Wiz): Let creature fall prone on a failed fort save. Not sure whether this shouldn’t be a CMD-check on the target’s side, but oh well.
5. Awaken (Sor/Wiz): Wake up target as if slapped.
6. Balance Weapon (Clr, Sor/Wiz): +1 enhancement bonus to weapon, does not count as magical.
7. Bash (Sor/Wiz): Next melee attack gains +2 to atk and reduces miss chance by concealment 10%
8. Blossom (Brd, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Lets flowers blossom.
9. Bone Spurs (Sor/Wiz): Deals 1d6 damage, but creature targeted gains +1 damage to grapple, natural & unarmed attacks
10. Canny Effort (Brd, Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Next skill check gets +2 insight bonus
11. Capture Alive (Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Nonmagical melee damage is converted into nonlethal damage.
12. Cauterize (Sor/Wiz): Deals one point of damage, but stops bleed.
13. Ceremonial Servant (Clr, Drd): Shadowy servant helps with ceremonies.
14. Clandestine Conversation (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Makes conversation between 2 creatures private.
15. Clean (Sor/Wiz): Clean dirt.
16. Cleanse of Alcohol (Brd, Clr, Sor/Wiz): Negates effects of alcohol. I don’t like this spell, especially not at this level. It could possibly ruin too many good adventure set-ups and makes e.g. drunks in-game look like idiots.
17. Cloth Armor (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Use cloth to improvise padded armor.
18. Conjurer’s Toolbelt (Sor/Wiz): Conjure a tool for your use.
19. Countervailing (Clr, Drd): Temporarily reverses detrimental effects of other spells. E.g. -6 to Str would become +3. I think this spell is grossly overpowered, especially for level 0, and should be disallowed.
20. Crack (Brd, Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Deal 1d3 DR and hardness-ignoring damage to an object, construct or undead creature.
21. Create Snow (Drd): Create some snow.
22. Crystal Symbol (Clr, Drd): Make a ranged touch attack for 1d3 divine damage.
23. Dark Baubles (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Lets an object cast a dark shadow, granting a bonus to stealth.
24. Dawdle (Sor/Wiz): -4 to Ini and -1 to reflex saves.
25. Daze Animal (Drd, Rgr 1): Daze an animal with 4 or lesser HD.
26. Decrypt (Brd, Sor/Wiz): +5 to decipher encrypted message.
27. Detect Charm (Brd, Clr, Pal 1, Sor/Wiz): Detect charm spells.
28. Detune (Brd): Detune instrument, imposing a -4 to perform.
29. Dim (Brd, Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Halves light strength.
30. Discern Health (Clr, Drd): Detects HP, negative conditions etc. in subsequent rounds. Due to the HP- and whether someone is drained etc. info, I don’t like this spell. I just don’t like metagamey stuff like that.
31. Disorienting Quake (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Target is shaken for one round and may fall prone.
32. Divining Rod (Drd, Rgr 1): Find water, shelter or grown food.
33. Drench (Drd): Deal 1 point nonlethal damage and extinguish small fires.
34. Elemental Sample (Sor/Wiz): Creates a small piece of the given element for a short time.
35. Encrypt (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Code a message.
36. Eyes of the Augur (Clr, Sor/Wiz): +10 to spellcraft to identify spells. That is a bif bonus for level 0. I would have went with +5.
37. Glimmer of Hope (Brd, Clr, Drd): Adds +10% to the chance of the target stabilizing once it drops to negative HP.
38. Gnome’s Gold (Sor/Wiz): Impose -1 per 2 caster levels on appraise checks for the given item.
39. Guardian Mote (Sor/Wiz): Mote absorbs 1d3 damage on the next attack that hits you.
40. Guide Vessel (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Guide vessels with simple commands. Only simple movements work.
41. Heaven’s Teardrop (Clr, Drd): Deal 1 bludgeoning and 1 fire damage on a ranged attack.
42. Idyllic Sleep (Sor/Wiz): Sleep well in terrible conditions.
43. Infuse Weapon (Clr, Sor/Wiz): Choose an energy: Deal +1 damage of the chosen energy with your weapon.
44. Iounic Transportation: Lets object orbit your head like an Ioun stone.
45. Irksome Weapon (Sor/Wiz): Weapon punishes for provoking attacks of opportunity.
46. Layer of Ice (Brd, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Target gets 1 cold damage, but also fire resistance 5.
47. Light my Fire (Brd, Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Start a fire when materials are there.
48. Lightning Sand (Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Entangle enemies.
49. Lightsight (Brd, Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Ignore penalties for light blindness.
50. Long-range Weapon (Clr, Sor/Wiz): Increase range increment of ranged weapon by 50% for one attack.
51. Low Blow (Brd, Clr, Sor/Wiz): 1 point bludgeoning damage and 1 round sickened.
52. Magic Spike, Lesser (Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Decrease DCs of enemies spells or spell-like abilities by 1.
53. Mishap (Brd, Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Make a caster level check and select a scroll mishap.
54. Omen Casting (Sor/Wiz): Next spell you cast on the target gets +1 DC.
55. Overlook (Brd, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Makes object easier to hide.
56. Pants (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Lets targets pants drop.
57. Parry Strike (Sor/Wiz): Gain +2 to AC against the next melee attack, whether it hits you or not.
58. Parry Shot (Sor/Wiz): Gain +2 to AC against the next ranged attack, whether it hits you or not.
59. Pause (Brd, Sor/Wiz): -4 to Ini
60. Phantasmal Tripwire (Sor/Wiz): Tripwire potentially trips enemy, dealing nonlethal damage.
61. Pointer (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Lightbeam from finger to show stuff, can be used to amuse felines.
62. Putrefy Food and Drink (Clr, Drd): Spoils food and drink.
63. Quicken Stride (Brd, Drd, Sor/Wiz): +5 ft movement rate.
64. Quill (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Conjures up a quill.
65. Ray of Mercy (Sor/Wiz): Deal 1d4 nonlethal damage.
66. Resistance to Fear (Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): +2 morale bonus against fear.
67. Restlessness (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Prevents target from sleeping for 24 hours.
68. Rigged Coin (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Coin always lands on the same side.
69. Sand in your Eyes (Sor/Wiz): Deals 1 point slashing damage and blinds target for 1 round.
70. Seeker (Sor/Wiz): Next ranged attack gains +2 to atk and reduces miss chance by concealment 10%.
71. Shadow Snag (Sor/Wiz): Snag shadow to entangle foe.
72. Shelve(Brd, Clr, Sor/Wiz): Correctly shelve item.
73. Shield open Flame (Drd, Sor/Wiz): Helps against wind.
74. Sickening Smell (Clr, Drd): Sicken targets.
75. Sign of Discovery (Brd, Clr, Sor/Wiz): +2 to next Knowledge, Sense Motive or Perceptions check.
76. Signal (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Signal can be heard in 1000 ft.
77. Simple Bed (Brd, Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Create a simple bed in e.g. nature.
78. Slapping Hand (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Ranged touch to slap enemy for 1 damage.
79. Smoke Image (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Create image from smoke.
80. Song of Serenity (Brd): Negate fatigue of an ally.
81. Spider’s Thread (Sor/Wiz): Create a rope and anchor it e.g. to the ceiling. Now that is just damn cool.
82. Spook Animal (Brd, Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Frighten animals.
83. Stonesense (Clr, Sor/Wiz): Gain stonecunning. If you have it, +5 to Perception.
84. Subconscious Aggression (Sor/Wiz): If atarget has rolled a natural 1 on an attack, he must reroll and potentially hit an ally.
85. Summarize (Clr, Sor/Wiz): Summarize up to 250 pages.
86. Summon Nature’s minor Ally (Drd): Summons tiny or diminutive animal of 1/2 HD or less.
87. Thicken (Clr, Drd): Increase hardness by 10% up to 50%.
88. Thorn of Light (Drd): Deal 1 point magical slashing damage on a ranged touch.
89. Timer (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Audible alarm after set time. Cool one.
90. Touch of Fascination (Sor/Wiz): Target is fascinated for the duration.
91. Touch of Fatigue (Clr, Sor/Wiz): Target is fatigued, but can save again.
92. Touch of Lethargy (Clr, Sor/Wiz): Target gains the staggered condition.
93. Touch of Torment (Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz): Creature touched gains -1 to atk, skills and ability checks.
94. Trifling Image (Brd, Sor/Wiz): Very small immobile illusion.
95. Tripline (Sor/Wiz): Creates a tripwire to let enemies fall.
96. Ultrasonic Nodes (Brd, Sor/Wiz): 1d3 sonic damage on a ranged touch attack.
97. Unarm Foe (Sor/Wiz): Disarm foes via CMB vs CMD on distance.
98. Unruly Bolt (Sor/Wiz): Deal 1d2 random energy on a ranged touch attack. Damage lingers at higher levels.
99. Unseen Attendant (Brd): Unseen servants grooms you.
100. Virulence (Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz 1): -2 to saves against disease and poison while the spell lasts.
101. Wooden Club (Drd, Sor/Wiz): Create a wooden club.

Conclusion:

Editing is top-notch, I didn’t notice any typos. Formatting adheres to the two-column standard and the b/w-artwork is nice. I was VERY curious about this file, as I considered 0-level spells, especially designing 101, a serious challenge. While I didn’t like some and hate Cleanse of Alcohol, I loved others and can say that this pdf is an EXCELLENT addition to any campaign – spellcasters at lower levels are often rather boring to play and this pdf seriously helps with this old problem. Thus my final verdicts for this installment of the 101-series will be 5 stars. Well done!

101 0-level spells is available from: