And whether you're a fresh face or an old hand, these are some of my personal favorite spells to whip out time and time again.
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| You fools you... wait, are those tentacles?! |
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Spell #1: Obscuring Mist
While this one is an old classic, it doesn't get nearly as much love as I think it deserves... at least partially because it really needs particular party abilities/equipment to make the best use of, as I mention in my Batman character conversion guide.
What makes obscuring mist so great? Well, it creates a 20-foot radius cloud of fog centered on you, which makes it impossible to see beyond 5 feet in any direction. While this fog can be dispersed by strong wind, or blasted away by fire, there's no spell resistance and no save, which means it makes a fantastic defense against archers, gaze attacks, and basically anything that requires line of sight. The drawbacks are, of course, that it blocks allies as surely as it does enemies, and that it's centered on you rather than a point you designate. And while it lacks the debilitating effects of more advanced fog and cloud spells like stinking cloud, cloudkill, etc., it's a great defensive spell to keep on hand in a lower-level slot.
To really get the most out of this (and other fog spells), you really need some way to see the enemy while they can't see you. Whether it's with inherent abilities like smog sight (available to half orcs), class features like a blinded oracle's increased senses, or magic items like fogcutter lenses or a goz mask, the ability to shroud the party in a mist so they can fight from cover while the enemy is blinded is a one-two punch that can create absolute mayhem. It won't work on all enemies, obviously, as many of them have tremor sense, blindsight, etc., but it can be an encounter killer against things that rely on their eyes, and don't have gust of wind or fireball prepared.
Spell #2: Entangle
There are few spells that have ruined as many days in my campaigns as entangle. Whether it was a mass of melee brutes getting ready to charge in, a squad of archers who thought they were safe, or a spellcaster hanging back to stay out of harm's way, this spell always ruins their day. Anything that restricts enemy movement while leaving your allies free to position themselves can be a dramatic shift in balance. And while this spell may lose efficacy as you go up in levels (especially against larger, more physical monsters who are tougher to hold), it always remains useful for larger battles against smaller enemies, or handling minions so they can't get in and gum up the works.
In addition to the base spell, which is first level, there's also sickening entanglement, which adds a status effect to those caught in the area, and thorny entanglement which gives the area the ability to fling rather damaging thorns at those who are outside the affected area, in addition to harming those within it. These spells are 2nd and 3rd level respectively, and they can add extra punch as the party fights bigger threats.
Spell #3: Grease
I heard no end of complaining when Pathfinder specifically stated that the grease from this spell is not flammable. However, I think far too many people were caught up in how they couldn't deal damage with this spell, and forgot about the utility of it in other circumstances.
Because for a first level spell, grease is a nasty thing to throw down. It lasts minutes per level, covers a 10-foot square, and anything in it when it shows up has to immediately pass the Reflex save or fall down. Being prone means you're at a negative to attack, and everyone around you gets a bonus to stomp you in melee. Additionally, grease means that anyone trying to move quickly through an area risks taking a tumble, so even fast-moving enemies won't be able to just jet around the battlefield without consequences. Also, it ignores SR, which can make it particularly handy for those pesky golem fights.
The secondary benefit of grease, of course, you can attempt to cast it on items. This means you could use it to try to make the enemy drop their weapon or a wand, but you can also slap it onto allies dealing with grapple-happy foes, since greased armor provides a +10 circumstance bonus on escape artist and CMB attempts to escape a grapple, and boosts one's CMD by 10 to avoid being grappled again. A solid, low-level utility spell that is best cast by you, but which can be put into a wand if your main use is going to be boosting your allies' defenses instead of hampering your foes. There's also a greater grease option, which allows you to coat more objects, or to cover more squares, which can add make a good spell even better!
Spell #4: Web
A spell that has vexed several GMs who've had me at their tables, web is a nasty piece of work if you have the right terrain. Whether you're holding a bridge against an advancing force of undead, or there's creatures coming down a hallway in a dungeon, or even a decent-sized chasm you need to cross, web can be a particularly useful spell... both for detaining enemies, but also for setting them on fire if you want to let them out.
While other useful iterations include web bolt for individual targets, or web cloud for a much larger area of effect, web also has the benefit that it creates difficult terrain, and lasts for a very long time. While it won't be useful against giant spiders, incorporeal creatures, fire-based creatures, and a host of other challenges, there's still plenty of reason to keep this spell up your sleeve if you want to catch your share of flies as the game goes on.
Spell #5: Create Pit
There are few things as satisfying as just dropping your enemies down a hole and leaving them there, and doubly satisfying if the barbarian has bull rush, or you have a spell like hydraulic push to shove even more foes in. That's why if you need to create a hazard in a hurry there are few funnier ways to do it than create pit. While it likely won't kill most things that fall into it (since it only goes down to 30 feet), it can quickly handle all sorts of things you don't want to deal with in the heat of the moment. It can also block off escape routes, or at the very least make them significantly more dangerous to take. Even better there are other varieties of this spell like roaming pit, which moves around sucking down enemies, acid pit, and hungry pit.
As with all the other spells, this one has its weaknesses as well. Creatures who can fly, who are too large, or who have high enough Reflex saves not to worry about falling in, tend to have no issue with pit spells. However, creatures that need to stand on their own two feet, who aren't too big to fit, and who aren't the most dexterous are going to find this a significant challenge to overcome. And while these spells don't last as long as most others on this list, they can be quite useful to keep on-deck for when you need to mess with a ground-based foe.
One Last Thing Before You Go...
For folks who may not have come across it yet, I've been doing something a little different with my Table Talk feature. The last 2 installments have been featured over on Vocal instead of here on Improved Initiative. And while That One Time My Bard Made The Dungeon Master's Girlfriend Jealous did pretty well in terms of views and shares, I wanted to draw folks' attention to the latest installment... The Silver Raven Chronicles Part One: Devil's Night.
What makes the Silver Raven Chronicles different from my previous Table Talk features is that instead of giving a session-by-session breakdown of how the campaign went, I'm writing a series of short stories that encapsulate the high notes of the game as it unfolds. My hope is to convey the narrative, while minimizing the time we spent on combat grind, dead-end chases, and digressions that happen in every campaign in order to present a tight, tasty, and engaging view of how the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune is going to get itself a black eye at the hands of our party.
So if you're a fan of my fiction, you just want to support my work, or you're a fan of punching fantasy fascists, then you're definitely going to want to give this a look!
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