Demi-Spells (Revised)
Magic in D&D/Pathfinder is pretty straightforward — bippity boppity boo, target makes his Reflex save or takes 15d6 of Flaming Acidic Ice damage. But what if you’re in a real hurry, and you leave off the bippity and the boppity, and just go with the boo?
A rare few arcane casters have mastered their spells to such an extent that they can choose to unleash a portion of the power of a prepared or known arcane spell with nothing but a syllable or two of speech and the barest flicker of a gesture — in Pathfinder terms, an immediate action. This consumes the full power of the spell and produces, of course, a lesser effect — but sometimes, half a spell at the right moment is better than a full spell at the wrong moment.
Such reduced spells are commonly called demi-spells, though they might be known by other names depending on culture, locale, and magical tradition — “arcane fragments”, “half-castings”, “spell shards”, “dweomerlings”, and so on.
A demi-spell cannot be prepared specifically, nor can one be a known spell for a spontaneous caster. Further, not all spells can be cast as demi-spells; a selection of some demi-spells for the lesser magics can be found below.
Scrolls, wands, potions, and other spell completion or spell trigger items normally do not contain demi-spells, and the spells they do contain cannot be cast as demi-spells. (A scroll, etc, which contains a demi-spell still requires a standard action to use. So, not much market in them. The main balance on demi-spells is that you give up the full power of the spell in order to shoot something off quickly; if you could carry a wand packed with 50 of the suckers and still use them as immediate actions, everyone would use one every turn.)
If a spell was prepared with a metamagic effect, the demi-spell inherits that effect, subject to any changes in the spell itself — for example, if the duration of the demi-spell is shortened, and the spell was prepared as an extended spell, the extension is calculated based on the demi-spells duration.
A quickened demi-spell can be cast as a free action. You cannot cast a second demi-spell as an immediate action in the same round, though you can take some other immediate action.
A demi-spell counts as a spell of its base spell’s level for purposes of saving throws, spell resistance, “immune to spells of X level or lower”, and so on. It also counts as the non-demi version of itself for purposes of any spell-specific effects, triggers, or immunities — a creature immune to magic missile is also immune to demi magic missile.
In order to cast a demi-spell, the caster must take the following feat(s):
Demi-Spell (Metamagic)
You can rapidly cast a reduced form of a low-level spell you’ve prepared or can spontaneously cast.
Benefit: You have access to any demi-spell versions of first through third level arcane spells you know or have prepared.
Special: Creatures with this feat and with spell-like abilities may use these abilities as demi-spells; however, an at-will spell-like ability cast as a demi-spell may not be cast again (as a demi-spell or a normal spell) for 1d4 rounds.
Improved Demi-Spell (Metamagic)
You can rapidly cast a reduced form of a mid-level spell you’ve prepared or can spontaneously cast.
Prerequisite: Demi-Spell
Benefit: You have access to any demi-spell versions of fourth through sixth level arcane spells you know or have prepared.
Special: Creatures with this feat and with spell-like abilities may use these abilities as demi-spells; however, an at-will spell-like ability cast as a demi-spell may not be cast again (as a demi-spell or a normal spell) for 1d4 rounds.
Greater Demi-Spell (Metamagic)
You can rapidly cast a reduced form of a high level spell you’ve prepared or can spontaneously cast.
Prerequisite: Improved Demi-Spell
Benefit: You have access to any demi-spell versions of seventh through ninth level arcane spells you know or have prepared.
Special: Creatures with this feat and with spell-like abilities may use these abilities as demi-spells; however, an at-will spell-like ability cast as a demi-spell may not be cast again (as a demi-spell or a normal spell) for 1d4 rounds.
Designer’s Note:There’s a lot of ways to handle access to demi-spells. The above is a compromise between several methods, as follows:
- No Cost: If you can arcane spells, you can cast demi-spells. This increases the flexibility of casters at no cost in resources. And, of course, if there’s one thing Pathfinder is known for, it’s how underpowered and inflexible casters are. (PS: That was sarcasm.)
- A feat unlocks all demi-spells. Metamagic feats can be applied to all spells, after all, so why require multiple feats? Again, my thinking here is that requiring too little investment for the gain in flexibility is probably unbalancing.
- A feat unlocks demi-spells for a range of spells. That’s the default option.
- A feat unlocks demi-spells in a limited range. This might be something like “Conjuration Demi-Spells”, which may require Spell Focus (Conjuration) as a prerequisite. This has a lot of flavor potential, as it makes a specialist mage even better at his specialty, and feels “realistic”, in that someone who has made a special study of conjuration spells would be adept at using fragments of them, but not of other spells. DMs should consider this option if they like more focused casters.
The Spells
Following is a small sample of demi-spells. If there’s interest, I may write up more. (Actually, I’m considering jumping into the PDF field a few years late and a few dollars short. Feedback request — would 0.99 for a dozen or two demi-spells be a decent price? I’m thinking of three books of three spell levels each, probably 15-20 spells per.)
Note 11/2/2012: Based on comments, some of the effects have been revised. A particular tip of the hat to mneme, whose comment got me thinking that if a fight only lasts a few round, an effect which is de facto “the whole fight” should be looked at closely. I’ve also tried to add in some more cases where the reduced spell will be useful. The design intent for demi-spells is to have them provide a quick burst of utility in an emergency or to gain just that hint of edge you might need to tip the scales.
Burning Hands: You never know when a gout of flame will come in handy. Burning hands does 1 point of fire damage per caster level (maximum 5) when cast as a demi-spell.
Cause Fear: Cause fear, when cast as a demi-spell, will cause the target creature to be shaken, or to suffer no effect if the save is made.
Charm Person: Charm person, cast as a demi-spell, will cause the target to think of you as a friend for one round. This is a short period of time, but it’s long enough for him to drop the nasty debuff he “accidentally” cast on his “best buddy” (you) or simply refrain from launching a fireball at you long enough for someone to hit you with a heal. It instantly ends if you or an ally attack the target, of course.
Color Spray: The demi-spell version of this has been unflatteringly termed “pastel spray” due to its faded colors and weaker effects. It only affects creatures of 2HD or less, and will stun them for one round.
Corrosive Touch: Casting corrosive touch as a demi-spell reduces the damage done to 1 point per level. It is often done just prior to making an attack of opportunity to disrupt a caster. (This requires you to be able to make unarmed AOOs, of course.)
Enlarge Person: While still just as impressive upon casting, the demi-spell version of enlarge person lasts for only one round. A common use for this is to wait until the target is about ready to unleash an iterative melee attack.
Expeditious Retreat: Rather handy if cast right at the start of your turn, as this gives you two actions to use running. (A common tactic is for a wizard trapped in melee to cast this as a demi-spell, take a five foot step, and then use his standard action to move.) However, as a demi-spell, it only increases your speed by 20 feet, and lasts one round per level.
Grease: The demi-spell version of grease affects a single square only, and evaporates by the end of the caster’s next turn. Still, it can be a great way to stop a fleeing — or charging — foe.
Magic Missile: Casting magic missile as a demi-spell might get you a reputation as a kill-stealing be0tch,but even at 1 point of damage per missile, the “always hit” feature can be very functional. If you can cast multiple missiles, they can be multiply targeted as usual.
Shield: Casting shield as a demi-spell can be done at the point where you are targeted by an attack, but before the to-hit is rolled. (It can also be done any other time an immediate action is allowed.) It provides the full +4 shield bonus to AC, but the spell terminates when the caster is hit despite the bonus, or if an attack misses by 4 or less (i.e., it’s the shield spell that caused it to miss), or after 1d4+1 rounds. It is thus often used when a caster suddenly finds himself in melee range, or sometimes at the start of a round if he needs his standard action to do something which will provoke, such as read a scroll or drink a potion.
Sleep: Sleep will put 1 HD worth of creatures to sleep, when it is cast as a demi-spell.
True Strike: As a demi-spell, this grants you a +5 insight bonus on your next attack roll. For multiclassed characters who primarily rely on melee attacks, this is a very nice thing to cast just a the start of their turn.
More Designer’s Notes
- There’s no particular reason to not allow divine casters the same type of functionality. I might cover that in a future article.
- I have a variant on this concept for combat maneuvers, giving the fighter and rogues something to do, if anyone’s interested.
- DMs may wish to experiment with global changes to the demi-spell concept. For example, they may decide that all demi-spells with a range greater than touch or personal have their ranges either down-shifted one (Close becomes Touch, etc.) or calculate the range normally, and then halve it. (This might also apply to areas of effect, or to the number of targets.)
