Bloody Torch

Another Random Spell

Because I Need To Keep This Alive

I edited 6K words this morning — go, me! — and decided to reward myself by finally posting something here after three months, but I wasn’t sure what. So I decided to go for another random spell! As noted previously, I randomly generated a set of names, and am going through them arbitrarily. The list as it stands:

Aura of Binding
Chimeric Insanity
Lesser Cataclysm of Constructs
Dawning Pierce
Noxious Rhythm
Trap of the Theif (sic)
Missile Burst
Condensed Bullet
Bloody Torch

As somewhat given away by the title, today’s episode is “Bloody Torch”. This is not what someone shouts when their light source, purchased from Honest Tom’s House Of Torches, burns out after two minutes rather than the promised two hours. No, this is… hmm. What is it?

Well, let’s just go with a literal interpretation. 

First, from the Alternate Universe OD&D Supplement VI, Keoland, where it appeared for Magic-Users and Clerics

1st Level
Bloody Torch: The caster loses 1 hit point, which cannot be magically healed, and a torch they’re holding casts a baleful red light for 1d6 hours. It doesn’t need fuel and produces no heat. Only one bloody torch can exist per caster at a time. The caster can dim the light to a 1″ radius or extend it up 6″, or temporarily turn it off completely.

It’s longer-lasting and more flexible than a light spell of the same era, but caster hit points are a damn scarce resource. In order to truly capture the spirit of Old School, I do not specify if the ‘clock is running’ when the torch is ‘turned off’. (It is, as will be explained in a ‘Sage Advice’ column in The Dragon, kicking off a six-month long flame war on the letters pages.)

Bloody Torch (Necromantic, Alteration,)
Level: 1
Range: Touch
Duration: 1-6 Hours
Area of Effect: See Below
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 2 segments
Saving Throw: None
To cast this spell, the magic-user or cleric must hold a wooden torch or a lantern in one hand. When cast, the caster takes 1 point of damage which cannot be healed by any means other than natural rest. The torch/lantern will emit a baleful red glow for the spell’s duration. This light will cover any radius the caster desires, from 1″ to 6″, or it can be snuffed completely, though the spell’s duration continues to run even when it is shedding no light. The torch or lantern produces no heat (thus, it does not affect infravision, and cannot ignite oil or anything else). It consumes no fuel. Anyone can hold the torch/lantern as long as they are within 12″ off the caster. It cannot be extinguished by normal wind, rain, or dampness, though it will not function if submerged in water (this ends the spell). No other bloody torch can be made during the spell’s duration; if it is cast again, the first one goes out permanently. The material component is a sharpened sliver of bone.

Basically the same effect, though more detailed. Note that it explicitly does not affect infravision, a common problem in 1e games. (Again, this is much like the standard light spell). The debate with this edition is if a gust of wind spell is “normal wind”. (Yes; magic animates the air, but the wind is not magical. However, similar effects originating from creatures from the Elemental Plane of Air are magical wind.)

Pathfinder 2e

At last, we come to the Pathfinder 2 version! I am feeling extraordinarily lazy right now, so, I am just going to paste a graphic. 

For Pathfinder, we make duration less random, and offer what I think is a nifty upgrade — the ability to create light that others, notably enemies, cannot see! That’s worth a little blood loss, don’t you think? I also chose to directly address more edge conditions — what if you can’t bleed?

Based on overall spell power in Pathfinder 2e, you might want to make this a Cantrip, and change the ‘Heightened’ effect to 2nd level.