Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Wild_Mage 12-03-04, 09:33 PM	I am very interested in the feat, Spell Thematics, but I need ideas as to different themes. Long story short, I am playing a Halruaan Elder, and I have to take Spell Thematics in order to meet the requirements. I was wondering if anybody can think of an idea that is not based on animals, insects, or elements. Here are the ideas that I have come up with (and have already used): 1) Prismatic 2) Shadows 3) Mist 4) Geometric 5) Spheres 6) Chaotic (as per the rod of wonder type thing… very fun :D ) That is all that I can think of, and now I need another theme. Please help me :( . Thanks in advance!
Anouilh Lyn 12-04-04, 09:59 AM	blood, undead (flying explosive zombie heads anyone?), runes, sand (thats kinda iffy since its technically an earth element), paint (all your spell effects look like they were painted into existance and leave behind some weird residue (paint!) that slowly dissapears, for example.) fun stuff like that ;) maybe play off of your characters background, favorite kinda hobbies, skills, or spells for inspiration.
Morka 12-04-04, 09:47 PM	You play a blond elf wizard? Your Magic Missiles should look like small hearts! You play a gambler wizard? There will be playing cards in all your spells! Perhaps have you a thing for daisies, butterflyes, bottles, stuffed animals...
TheWalkingLost 12-04-04, 11:15 PM	Force, I love force. Force Mage Yeah! ... Go Warriorish by taking Master of the Unseen Hand. Woot! Magic Mizzle, Wall o' Keep the Hell away, Force. Bigby's hand of anything you want made of... oh yeah force... Did I mension force?
Mirikon 12-05-04, 07:59 PM	Well, flame is always fun. I remember one time when my wizard (who had blue flame as his theme, and Magic Missile as his theme spell for 1st level) cowed a couple Cold type creatures into surrendering, by telling them he was a fire wizard, and then sending a pair of magic missiles at one who tried to charge him. The missiles killed that one, and the others surrendered after seeing that. Quite fun. What's also fun is Cone of Cold as a theme spell where the theme is Flame. Screw with people's heads. Other themes? Well, what's your character like? Green is his fav color? Make his theme Green Smoke. So Magic Missile appears to be balls of green smoke, Mage armor manifests as a green smoke, etc. Your character enjoys bats? Make that your theme. So Burning hands appears to be a bunch of bats made out of fire flying through the spell's area.
Foxboy2000 12-05-04, 09:06 PM	How about leaves/flowers/other botanical mass? In one setting I had an überpowerful mage NPC whose theme was cherry blossoms. It was fun having the PCs wade through waist-deep flower petals after a ninth-level spell. ;)
Mirikon 12-06-04, 03:04 PM	If you're a 'good' character, you might consider the generic 'flash of white light'. If you're evil, shadows are always fun.
Kyy'Dakh 12-17-04, 11:06 AM	One theme that recently came to mind: swarms: Your fireballs aren't one big puff: They're clouds of small firework-sized explosions. Your walls of force aren't featureless: They're a collection of joined geometric pieces. Your magic missiles aren't 5 shots: They're tiny balls of energy that just form 5 groups.
SoulLord 12-17-04, 01:35 PM	this just come to the top of my head Cofee instead of the wall of fire its a wall of boiling cofee sending splashes of it forward :) the wall of fog is cofee scented with a dark brown color etc..
CaoSlayer 12-17-04, 02:00 PM	Vermins!! fireball = millions of fire insects everywhere. or needles for the very sadistic.
+1 GM of Waffling 12-17-04, 05:36 PM	How about celtic knots? Zig-zagging lines of power the define your spells. Your fireballs (to keep the pattern going) would be an intricate knot-work of firely lines. Summoned creatures step out of a doorway defined by intricate scrollwork. You could even say that every scroll you create is richly illuminated and drawn. You should have a good craft(drawing) or the like, to back it up, though. D.
+1 GM of Waffling 12-17-04, 05:46 PM	"Rings" would be a decent theme. Imagine the blast ring from the Death Star on the revised Star Wars movies. (Many space-bound movie explosions use this same effect, these days.) It's a ring of energy with a flame-like effect on it's inner edge. Your magic missiles are simple rings of bright, blue-white energy. For summoning spells, rings of energy cascade up from the ground (or wherever) and your creature appears in the middle. The tentacles from Evard's black tentacles are defined by rings, kind of like a topographical map. Cone spells are rings of energy that expand as they race away from you. Spherical spell effects have a ring of energy that explodes to maximum size, then spins round-and-round. D.
Mirikon 12-17-04, 06:15 PM	"Hawks" would be an interesing theme. Think about it. Your Magic Missiles are green hawks flying through the air to strike people. Fireball? A firey hawk flies from your hand, and, at the point of impact, explodes. Polar ray? An ice blue hawk flies from your hand, leaving a trail behind it.
Nani? 12-18-04, 03:33 PM	My 4th level sorceress likes pretty colors. This means color spray. It means grease with a rainbow sheen under the right light, it means hypnotic pattern and an obscureing mist that is purple. Now how does that sound. All the best, Nani?
Mirikon 12-20-04, 01:13 PM	Nice touch, Nani. Really, the key to selecting a good spell thematic is to choose one that fits the character. A worshiper of Auril obviously would be disinclined to choose a fire motif. Just like a sorcerer connected with the church of Pelor would be less likely to choose a shadow or screaming skull motif.
Kyy'Dakh 12-20-04, 04:02 PM	Here's another thought: Shattering: When you cast Magic Missile, you gather up a ball of energy that shatters into a bunch of shards that pierce the target. When you summon a monster (insert random encounter transition from FFX) Your ray spells seem to crack space-time on their way to the target. -I've got a female Wiz1 on the backburner who worships a homebrew Dionysis-type diety. Anyone know what would make for suitable wine thematic displays? :pint:
crinos43 12-21-04, 12:34 PM	If you're feeling really odd and evil: eyeballs. Not only would the spells hurt, but ehy could be looking at them too.
Kinzadi Runeflame 12-21-04, 10:44 PM	Runes could work (yes, I know kinda like celtic knotwork) Magic missiles look like ancient arcane runes. Summon Monster _ creates a giant rune in the point in space where the monster enters Toril (or what ever realm you play in). Fireball is red glowing rune that once at the target point bursts as normal and then leaves the image of the rune in the center of the burst.
JustinE12 12-21-04, 11:04 PM	Somthing like spinning knives, yeah that would be pretty cool for magic missiles you throw what look like daggers and they home in on the enemy, for fireball its a number of spinning knives that upon stiking the target area each knife explodes into smaller knives, filling the area
Mirikon 12-22-04, 02:53 AM	Hell, the theme could be even so simple as the color blue. Frankly, blue fireballs, and a prismatic wall that's all blue would be a really good way to screw with people's heads.
Roxlimn 12-22-04, 08:08 AM	Chromatic flaming orbs. Little flames encased in arcane orbs that fly around you in orbit. You can theme the color and movement to whatever the spell is doing. Amorphous Purple Energy. Kind of like what the Warlock does. Mimes. Yep. You can even theme your spells to summon Mimes that do whatever the spell is trying to do. Annoying? Yes. Theme? Yes. Japanese sigils. You know about anime casters and even warriors who have to shout their moves and have it portrayed across the screen in kanji? Well, you can have that, too. Candles. You summong various candles when you cast your spell. This lame idea is from the Candle Caster from Tome and Blood. WotC thought about it so don't blame me if you don't like it.
Molitor 12-23-04, 07:36 PM	Naked ladies!
Mirikon 12-23-04, 09:00 PM	<pauses to picture the Charm spell, with the naked ladies theme> Ahem. <_< >_> You wicked, wicked man!
Arkonth 12-24-04, 12:15 PM	How about Insects? A bunch of bugs all fly to a central point then launch at an enemy for fireball, Insects stream forward from all over the floor and the arrange themselves into your summonned monster. Or maybe a storm effect, with lightning bolts striking down to a point above the ground the rushing forward to fireball your enemy or rain pooling into the shape of a monster or a monster riding down made out of clouds etc. That's all I got.
Mirikon 12-24-04, 03:21 PM	Now, here's an idea. Can a theme be sonic in nature? Y'know, like 'Roars' or '1812 Overture'?
jedimaster 12-26-04, 01:26 PM	How's about MONEY? All your spells look like bills of different denominations. :) :mage:
Nifft 12-26-04, 02:44 PM	Jellyfish. Flumphs (or other aberration). Pac-Man. -- N
jedimaster 12-26-04, 05:42 PM	How about LOVE All your spells look like things associated with love :D
Roboradish 12-26-04, 11:35 PM	The way I see it, there are two ways you could go. 1. You want to mess with the heads of your enemies. Fine, that's a really cool concept. Make your spells manifest as, I dunno, green dragons trailing emerald fire. When you're in town next, have someone paint dragons on your armor or embroider them on your robes. Get some ranks in both bluff and intimidate. Eventually, your DM could use this as a story hook, have some real dragon get urinated in an outward direction and come beat your face into the ground. 2. You just want your charcter to look like a addbass. Sure, who doesn't? In that case I recomend you choose a swarm of something that matches your alignment. If you specialize in fire magiks, have your spells manifest of swarms of grinning little balls of flame. Lawful charcters might want glowing geometric cubes. Hell, make your Chaotic Neutral character shoot optical illusions that hurt your head to look at. You might even be able to get a bonus to hit out of that. Also, what are the requirements for the Spell Thematics feat?
Carai an Ellisande! 12-31-04, 10:37 PM	Something I know one of my particular characters would choose... Feathers Think about it. A burst of feathers like a pillow exploding at the point where the Fireball detonates. Magic Missile feathers that seem to drift on the wind toward their targets. A giant cone of innumerable, ice blue feathers for Cone of Cold. Feathers fall from the sky above the caster creating a Mage Armor formed from snow white feathers about his person. For some reason, I'm also envisioning boots as a theme. Imagine a Magic Missile boot, flying to the target and kicking them where the sun don't shine... :D
Realms_Wanderer 01-06-05, 09:10 AM	"Hawks" would be an interesing theme. Think about it. Your Magic Missiles are green hawks flying through the air to strike people. Fireball? A firey hawk flies from your hand, and, at the point of impact, explodes. Polar ray? An ice blue hawk flies from your hand, leaving a trail behind it. Hehe Hi everybody this is my first post. I've been playing D&D know for about 5 years. Anyway to my reply to this Thats and awesome idea, i had a similar theme it was very awesome and some of the spells were very fun when using my birds theme. Web, thousands of ducks would appear and latch onto and hold people in place or slow them down it added insult to injury. i mean come on ducks?? their vicious but hehe that blackguard never saw it coming and my magic missles like above were hawks but they were blue and my sheild spell appeared as an ethereal looking pair of wings that protected me and so on and such. PS Spell themes are fun to add to a game just to add variety like every fireball looking the same gets really really repetitive but to mages launching for example a flaming hawk and flamin ace of spades at one another is kinda fun.
Paravel 03-12-05, 06:53 PM	Mirrors. Magic Missile produces small flying mirrors: the target can see his own reflection in each mirror - just before it shatters against his form, gashing him with shards of glass. Fireball is a tiny mirror that expands as it rushes at the target(s) --who can see themselves for an instant before the cloud of flaming shards engulfs them. Flight involves the target's skin becoming a reflective surface that glitters and shines as it reflects whatever light there is. Mage Armor surrounds the subject with swarms of tiny mirrors that intercept incoming attacks, breaking with the impact but endlessly replaced as long as the spell lasts. ----Or just changes the appearance of the subject's skin as with the Flight spell.