Troll formulas that have no meaning in dungeons and dragons

Creating a magic system in any medium is no easy performance. It takes time, effort and enormous attention to detail to emphasize the contradictions, layoffs and other monitoring that may arise when inventing a set of rules to control Arcane. Fortunately, Dungeons and dragons Has had fifty years and five (ISH) editions to refine their magic formulas and the laws that lead them, creating a relatively iron -clad magical system for this beloved table record game.

Still, even after decades of audits, there are still some gaps in the system. Some have restrictions that make sense when it comes to games, but not so much from a university perspective. Others have less than clear descriptions or appear to have little practical use. For any of these reasons, there are some magic formulas that are still not very meaningful in D&D.

Change myself

2nd level transmutation

Through this magic formula, D&D players can change their bodies to suit new purposes with one of three choices. An alternative is aquatic adaptation, which provides the user's gills and webbed feet. Another is called natural weapons, with which the user grows horns, teeth or chlorine that they can use in battle. The main reason why this magic formula is not sensible is the third power choice: Change appearance. This basically mimics the effect of the spelling disguise, which is an enchantment at a lower level and more commonly learned rod to begin with.

Both other effects are physical changes that affect how the user interacts with the world: they can breathe underwater or deal with damage to their new chlorine. With change appearance -effect, the user can take up the appearance of another breed, but none of their statistics change, which indicates that (which hides itself) the effect is illusory rather than physical. Instead of dealing with the effects of another magic formula, why not give players additional body change options that they cannot find anywhere else?

Transmission

3rd level evocation

Sending can be a valuable magic formula, especially if the party is shared. This allows the user to send a message, up to 25 words long, to a creature they are familiar with, which then hears the message in their mind. There are no limits to distance with this magic formula, although sending messages to other planes has a 5% chance of failure.

However, the question remains: Why 25 words? From a game design point of view, it is obvious: limiting the message prevents the magic formula from being overpowered and forces players to think creatively. But in the universe it feels a bit arbitrary. How does the spelling determine when you have reached the word count? Is hyphen, like “in -depth” or “large -scale”, one or two words? Some players can become pedantic about these details.

Invisibility

2nd Illusion

Invision is a classic in all fantasy environments. Drink a drink, throw a magic formula or pull up the hood on a coat and simply disappear. Several casting courses in D&D can turn themselves or another willing creature invisible by means of this relatively low level. But it is not infallible.

The effect ends when the invisible creature throws a magic formula, makes an attack roll or causes injury – but why? There is no other magic formulation or condition in the game that ends in this way. It is not about breaking the concentration, as these measures do not cause the concentration to fail (except for throwing a new magic formula that requires concentration). From a gaming balance point of view it makes sense. Being able to run around invisible and attack with impunity would make many meetings trivial. In the universe, however, there is no explanation.

Troll animals

3rd leveling

This enchantment mentions here because the name is misleading. When throwing this magic formula, the creatures that the player actually do not call animals, but the spirits of nature that take the form of animals. The player can choose the bestial shape they take, but they will appear as spectral, rather than fully shaped.

This is an important difference when it comes to games. Natural spirits are usually fey, which can be affected differently by certain magic formulas or conditions than actual animals would do. Players who want to use this magic formula to call animal comrades can be a surprise when they get Fey Minions instead.

Legend Lore

5th level divination

Legend Lore is available for a variety of spell casting classes and allows the user to immediately learn all significant lore about a famous person, place or thing. It can be an extremely useful way to get information about a magical article that the party is looking for, or even a mysterious enemy. However, some of the specifications in the description of the magic form are open to interpretation.

How “famous” must a person, place or thing be for the magic formula to work? The description says that if the selected article/person/place is not known, the magic formula will fail, accompanied by a sad musical stick. Does “famous” mean that the subject must be known throughout the campaign's attitude? Or is it enough if it is held highly appreciated by a few people, such as a sacred place for a secret cult? The troll can reveal some well -known secrets about a chosen subject, but what does it do then? Of course, all this is up to DM's assessment, but the nebral description of the magic form can make it difficult to use.

Banishment

4th level

This magic formula seems quite simple on the surface. The user is aimed at a creature that must succeed a charisma that saves throws or transported to another plane. If that creature originates from another plane, they will be sent back there and will not return.

But if the creature is native to the plane from which it was banished, it is instead sent to a harmless demiplan where it remains under spell duration – which lasts a huge one minute. This questions whether the magic formula can even be considered useful against creatures that are not extra planning units. What is the point of revealing an enemy from this plan, just for them to show up a minute later?