DCC Spell - Caress of Pelena

I've played a lot of roleplaying games over the decades ... they are great ways to look at worlds of adventure through different lenses.  One of the more interesting games was Harnmaster, developed by British Columbian N Robin Crossby.  The Harnmaster spell system had individual spells that would improve in effect as the caster increased their percentage skill or mastery of that specific spell, and each spell was a separate 'skill'.  Magic in Harnmaster was divided into six separate 'schools' or philosophies or elements, much like Aristotle thought everything in the world was made of four separate elements of fire, water, earth or air.

It's definitely occurred to me that many Harnmaster spells would translate well to DCC (and conversely, Harn as a campaign setting could easily be used with the DCC ruleset), although Harn is definitely not a 'gonzo, pulp-SF' environment, being more rooted in Tolkeinesque mythology and environments, but the idea of scaling spells with increasing effects is the same in both systems, just handled differently.

Harn as a setting is rules-neutral and filled with all sorts of levels of detail you won't find anywhere else.  The campaign world is published by Columbia Games and Kelestia Productions

For fun I decided to convert one of the Shek-Pvar spells for Peleahn (the school of fire, momentum, energy, and heat) over to DCC ... enjoy!

Caress of Pelena

Level:                         1                                                                                        Range:                       Varies       Duration:                  1 round                                                                           Casting Time:                   1 action   Save:                          Fortitude

The wizard causes the internal temperature of an object or creature to increase.  The spell might be undetectable to the observer, or steam might gather above the target.

Manifestation: Roll 1d6: (1) the caster’s hands briefly glow orange; (2) the target of the spell vibrates rapidly for a moment, with an audible thrum; (3) steam rises from the caster’s eyes; (4) the air around the target shimmers with heat; (5) flickering flames dance between the wizard and the target; (6) all the heat sources nearby, such as torches or even sunlight, momentarily flicker and dim.

Corruption: Roll 1d4: (1) the wizard’s brow becomes covered in sweat that will not go away; (2) the wizard’s internal temperature increases, and they are constantly hot to the touch; (3); all of the wizard’s hair singes and falls off ; (4) roll on the minor corruption table.

Misfire:    Roll 1d4: (1-2) the wizard’s internal temperature increases, and the fever causes them to lose 1d6 hp; (3-4) an object the caster is holding catches fire and suffers 1d6 hp damage; (3-4) 1d3 random fires start within 30 feet of the caster, on the most flammable objects.

Mercurial Magic:

1                Lost, failure and worse! Roll 1d6 modified by Luck: (0 or less) corruption + patron taint + misfire; (1-2) corruption; (3) patron taint (or corruption if no patron); (4+) misfire.

2-11          Lost, failure

12-13        A touched object’s temperature rises by a few degrees, frost disappears from the surface, ice melts slightly; a touched creature targeted is healed from frost or cold damage by 1d3 hp.

14-17        A touched object’s temperature rises significantly, a cold beverage becomes warm, a frozen object thaws somewhat; a touched creature targeted is healed from frost or cold damage by 1d4 hp, or suffers 1d4 hp damage (half damage if they succeed on a save vs. the caster’s spell check).

18-21        A touched object’s temperature rises greatly, a cold beverage becomes hot, a frozen object thaws completely, a highly flammable object browns or crisps at the edges; a touched creature suffers 1d6+CL damage (half damage if they succeed on a save vs. the caster’s spell check).

22-25        As above, but affects 1d3 targets within 30 feet.

26-29        An object within 30 feet has it’s temperature rapidly rise, expanding slightly causing doors to become difficult to open (DC as normal + CL), flammable objects suffering 3d6 + CL damage, paper or cloth objects immolating immediately causing 1d4 damage to any creature they touch; a creature within 30 feet suffers 3d6 + CL damage (half damage if they succeed on a save vs. the caster’s spell check).

30+           An object within 30 feet has it’s temperature dramatically rise, expanding causing doors to become difficult to open (DC as normal + 2 x CL), flammable objects suffering 3d10 + CL damage, paper or cloth objects immolating immediately causing 1d10 damage to any creature they touch, metallic objects dully glowing causing 1d10 damage per round for CL rounds to any creature they touch; a creature within 30 feet suffers 3d10 + CL damage (half damage if they succeed on a save vs. the caster’s spell check) and any flammable objects they hold or wear against their skin suffers 1d4 damage.