Conjuration/Summoning

Afflict: The spell imposes some ill effect on a target creature. The caster states what sort of affliction the victim suffers and the affliction’s duration, which can be conditional (see below). An affliction can be dispelled only by a caster of equal or higher level.

A harmless affliction, such as the victim’s hair turning white, can be created at half difficulty (20), and modifiers for duration are halved as well. Such an affliction can be made permanent without the loss of a point of Constitution.

At base difficulty (40), the victim is afflicted in some minor way: shaking hands reduce Dexterity by one point and impose a –5% penalty on thieving skills, clouded vision imposes a –1 penalty to missile attacks, etc.

At double difficulty (80), the victim suffers a major, but not life-threatening, affliction: one type of weapon always breaks when the victim uses it in combat, the character suffers a terrible disfigurement that reduces Charisma to 3, the sight of treasure drives the character insane, a farmer’s field is blighted so that the crop loses 10–20% of its value, etc.

At triple difficulty (120), the target is afflicted badly enough to ruin the character’s life: a warrior’s weapon arm withers, a rogue is struck blind when violating a law, a wizard is rendered speechless, a blight in a field reduces the crop to bare subsistence level, etc.

At quadruple difficulty (160), the target’s life is imperiled: wounds never heal, saving throws fail, every word spoken provokes violence, a field bears no crop at all, etc.

The spellcaster can specify a duration or state a condition that ends the affliction. In either case, use Table 32 to determine the additional difficulty. When a condition is imposed, the DM must set an effective duration based how much time might be required to fulfill the condition and what lasting effects fulfilling the condition might have.

For example, if a character is struck blind until he apologizes to the caster for an insult, the effective duration is one round if the caster is present. However, if the character must crawl to the caster’s tower 10 miles away, the effective duration is a day.

Conditions that are extremely difficult to fulfill or that require a major change in the victim’s life are effectively permanent. For example, having hands that shake until a rogue gives up his thieving ways—thus retiring or assuming a new character class—is an effectively permanent affliction. Such an affliction would not cost the caster a point of Constitution, however, as it is within the victim’s power to end the affliction.

Bind: The spell imposes an agreement upon a creature. It differs from charm and compel (see below) in that the subject agrees to undertake, or refrain from, a single action but otherwise retains its own will. Any type of creature can be bound, even those normally immune to charm effects. A binding is often combined with a summoning spell to insure that the summoned creature obeys the caster—this is the only form of binding a conjuration specialist can cast.

A binding can have either a fixed or conditional duration, just as an affliction can. A summoning combined with a conditional binding ends when the condition is met, sending the summoned creature back where it came from.

If a binding lasts a year or more, the target is allowed a saving throw each year to break the spell. If the binding was combined with a summoning, the creature returns to the locale from which it came if the saving throw is successful. If the saving throw fails, it remains bound by the spell.

No binding is effective if it is impossible to honor or requires a suicidal action. For example, trying to force a creature to stop breathing or eating is an invalid binding.

Conjure: The spell brings forth matter from somewhere else, usually one of the elemental planes. Conjurations can produce valuable materials when combined with an imbue spell, and those conjurations with a base difficulty of 80 or less can be made permanent without a loss of constitution.

At base difficulty (40), the spell produces a block of simple elemental material. Doubling the difficulty (80) produces simple objects made from a single common material, such as wooden tables or iron spikes. Tripling the difficulty (120) produces complex objects made from multiple common materials, such as weapons, wagons, and castles.

Summon: The spell brings forth creatures from somewhere else, usually one of the outer planes.

At base difficulty (50), the spell summons a single creature whose Hit Dice does not exceed the caster’s level. The caster can choose to summon multiple creatures, but there is a difficulty modifier (see Table 29). The caster can choose to summon a specific creature if its name is known. Doubling the base difficulty (100) doubles the total Hit Dice of creatures that can be summoned, tripling (150) the base difficulty triples the Hit Dice, and so on.

A summoned creature whose Hit Dice are less than the caster’s level automatically attacks the caster’s foes for the duration of the spell or until the caster commands it to cease. If the caster has no enemies to fight, the creature can be commanded to perform other actions for the duration of the spell. The spell does not grant the ability to communicate with a summoned creature, so additional magic may be required. Any summoned creature returns to the locale from which is was summoned if it is dispelled, banished, or slain.

If a summoned creature’s Hit Dice are greater than the caster’s level, or if the creature was specifically named in the summoning, the caster has no special control over it, though it can be bound, charmed, or compelled.

The initial distance between the caster and the summoned creature is not a factor, but the distance between the caster and where the summoned creature appears is.

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