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Here’s the fifteenth set of spells for Dungeons & Sorcery. The main classic spell this time is Dimension Door, but there’s a number of good ones here.

Confusion (SC)
Enchantment, Somatic, Verbal, Area (Fixed)
53 points + 17.5 per level
Casting Time: 4 seconds
Casting Roll: Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim
Range: 100 yards
Duration: Special

This spell causes everyone in the target area to potentially become confused. This only works on sentient beings, which have to take a Fright Check with effects from a failure going to the confusion results (P85).

Magic resistance grants a bonus to the check, and every time a victim is subject to this spell within a day grants a +1 to the roll. Anyone who passes a Check is immune to this spell for the next hour. Extra levels of the spell penalize the roll by –1.

Terror (Confusion; Accessibility, Only On Sentient Beings, –10%; Area Effect, 4 yards, +100%; Ranged, +40%; Requires Gestures, –10%; Requires Magic Words, –⁠10%; Sorcery, –15%; Takes Extra Time, x4, –20%) [1.75×30]. Additional levels add –1 to the Fright Check [1.75×10].

Contagion (SC)
Necromancy, Somatic, Verbal
67 points
Casting Time: 4 seconds
Casting Roll: Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim
Range: 20 yards
Duration: 3 weeks

By casting contagion, the caster tries to afflict the target with a wasting disease. This is not actually a contagious disease, and will not affect anyone else, but the subject may be dealing with it for up to three weeks.

As this is an aimed attack, active defenses proceed as normal. But DR and other normal protections have no effect. Instead the subject must make a resistance roll at HT-4 (Fit and Very Fit will help as normal). Failure means the contagion takes hold, doing 1 point of toxic damage and lesions appear on the skin, lowering ST, DX, and HT by one.

Every day after that for the next three weeks, the subject must make another resistance roll, with failure doing another point of toxic damage and lowering ST, DX, and HT again. Success on any resistance roll ends the contagion, and the subject will begin to recover. Otherwise, each day of bed rest will grant a +1 to the resistance roll up to a +3. Finally, targeted spells such as cure disease will work on it.

Innate Attack 1 (tox; Cyclic, 1 day, 21 cycles, +200%; Malediction 2, +150%; Reduced Range, 1/5, –20%; Requires Gestures, –10%; Requires Magic Words, –⁠10%; Resistible, HT-4, –10%; Sorcery, –15%; Symptoms; Takes Extra Time, x4, –20%) [3.75×1] + Affliction 1 (HT; Attribute Penalty, –1 ST, –1 DX, –1 HT, +20%; Cumulative, +400%; Follow-Up, +110%) [6.3×10]

Dig (C)
Evocation, Somatic, Verbal
30 points
Casting Time: 4 seconds
Casting Roll: None
Range: 20 yards
Duration: 20 seconds

This spell digs a pit, or a passageway, two yards across through solid earth at a rate of 1 yard per second (halve this to dig through stone). This is actual excavation, and the moved dirt/stone will be piled evenly around the rim of the pit, or outside the entrance of the passage; dispelling will halt the excavation, but the moved earth will still be where it was left.

While this is a non-magical hole that is subject to collapse, single applications of this spell are safe in normal conditions. If using multiple castings to expand or extend the excavation, on every second use, the caster must roll against the best of Engineer (Mining), Prospecting-3, or IQ-4 (all without use of Talent) to avoid collapse. The use of proper bracing will improve the roll, while attempting to dig through soft ground or sand will cause the pit/passage to rapidly refill (GM’s option as to how much moved material stays in place).

Tunneling 1 (Hands Free, +20%; Increased 1/2D, 10x +15%; Ranged, +40%; Reduced Duration, 1/3, –10%; Reduced Range, 1/5, –20%; Requires Gestures, –10%; Requires Magic Words, –10%; Sorcery, –15%; Takes Extra Time, x4, –20%) [1.0×30]

Dimension Door (SC)
Alteration, Verbal
155 points
Casting Time: 4 seconds
Casting Roll: None
Range: 400 yards
Duration: Instantaneous

The caster moves himself, and everything he is carrying (not including living people!), up to Extra Heavy encumbrance to a location of his choice within 400 yards. This can be a place currently seen, or by visualizing a known spot within range, or by specifying bearing and distance (“50 yards straight down” or “north-northwest, up at a 20-degree angle, 250 yards”). If the chosen location is occupied by a solid object (rock, a castle wall…) the caster still disappears from his current location, but is trapped in the Astral Plane’s equivalent to to his destination. Should he appear in midair (or water), he will fall to the ground unless he can stop himself somehow.

Short of the perils of where his destination may be, the spell normally has no chance for error in location. Rarely however, lesser magic-users can find themselves trapped on the Astral Plane even if the destination was clear (the caster’s IQ+Talent minus all modifiers must equal 3 or better for this spell to work; see the modifiers for Warp on B99, but the maximum penalty for purposes of this spell is –3 (range) – 3 (4 second preparation) – 5 (blind) = –11).

Finally, the caster will be disoriented for the second after he arrives, and unable to do anything other than defense rolls unless he makes a Body Sense roll (B181).

Warp (Blind, +50%; Cosmic: No Die Roll Required, +50%; Extra Carrying Capacity, Extra Heavy, +50%; Limited Use, 1, Fast Reload, –20%; Nuisance Effect: Banished to Astral Plane, –10%; Range Limit, 400 yards, –35%; Requires Magic Words, –10%; Sorcery, –15%; Takes Extra Time, x4, –20%) [1.55×100]

Evard’s Black Tentacles (UC)
Conjuration, Somatic, Verbal
50 points
Casting Time: 30 seconds
Casting Roll: Touch, or use Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.
Range: 10 yards
Duration: 5 hours

The caster conjures a set of ten black, rubbery, tentacles that come out of whatever surface is handy (ground, floor, water…) in a 10-yard diameter area. For the next 5 hours, the tentacles will attempt to grapple anything they come in contact with (other than each other).

There is no intelligence behind the tentacles, and they have no senses other than touch, so each will grab friend and foe alike (reach 2), dead bodies, pillars, etc, and will not willingly let go. Each “grab” is a grapple attack. If they don’t break free before the tentacle’s next turn, the victim will be considered pinned (B370), and it will start trying to crush the victim, causing a Quick Contest of its ST (20) vs the victim’s ST or HT (whichever is greater), with the victim taking damage equal to any lost Contests each second until the tentacles are dispelled, destroyed (each one has 20 HP/0 DR and will be destroyed instantly if it reaches 0 HP), or five hours pass since the tentacles appeared.

Ally Group (10; 25% Power, Constantly Available; Extended Duration, x300, +100%; Minion, +0%; Requires Gestures, –10%; Requires Magic Words, –10%; Sorcery, –15%; Summonable, +100%; Takes Extra Time, x30, –60%) [2.05×24] The Allies have: ST 20 [100], IQ NA, DX 10, HT 10, HP 20, BS 5, Blindness [–50], Conjured Servant [20], Constriction Attack [15], Dependency: Mana (Very Common, Constant; Instant Death, +100%) [–50], Doesn’t Breathe [20], Double-Jointed [15], Homogeneous [40], Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30], Mute [–25], No Eyes [–5], No Legs (Sessile) [–⁠50], No Manipulators [–50], No Sense of Smell/Taste [–5] = [5]

Fire Charm (SC)
Enchantment, Somatic, Verbal
73 points
Casting Time: 4 seconds
Casting Roll:
Range: 10 yards
Duration: 10 minutes

The caster selects one fire within 10 yards. Anyone other than the caster observing the flame for the next ten minutes will find it’s dancing soothing and hypnotic. Anyone observing the fire is subject to being potentially controlled, and needs to make a Quick Contest of IQ with the caster.

The the observer loses, they will lose all initiative, and will stand gazing into the fire until the spell ends or the caster speaks to them. The caster can then give the subject one command in the form of a short sentence (twelve words or less). The subject will then attempt to fulfill any order that does not go against their nature for the next hour. If the subject wins the Quick Contest, they cannot fall victim to any casting of fire charm for 24 hours.

Mind Control (Environmental, Must Have Fire Handy, –10%; Extended Duration (Mind Control), x20, +50%; Extended Duration (Spell), x10, +40%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Independent, +70%, Limited Use, One Command, -40%; Persistent, +40%; Puppet, +40%; Requires Gestures, –10%; Requires Magic Words, –10%; Sense Based (Vision), –20%; Sorcery, –15%; Suggestion, –50%) [50×1.45]

Fire Trap (SC)
Evocation, Somatic, Verbal, Trap
6 points
Casting Time: 4 seconds
Casting Roll: None
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent

The caster places a trap on a single object that has a lid or door or can otherwise be closed (books, bottles, coffins…) by tracing the opening while casting the spell (the caster cannot otherwise move, so only openings that they can reach while standing in one position can be used). The caster will choose a command word when casting the spell, and speaking it while opening the item will keep anything from happening.

If the command word is not spoken while opening the item, the fire trap is triggered, doing 1d+2 burning damage to everything within two yards of the opening.

Innate Attack 1d+2 (burn, Area Effect, 2 yd, +50%; Environmental (Closeable Items Only), –40%; Delay: Triggered, Open Item +50%; Melee Attack, C, 1, –20%; Limited Use, 1 (Fast Reload), –20%; Requires Gestures, –10%; Requires Magic Words, –10%; Sorcery, –15%; Takes Extra Time, x4, –20%) [0.65×8]

Fireflow (C)
Alteration, Somatic, Verbal, Area (Fixed)
40 points
Casting Time: 3 seconds
Casting Roll: IQ
Range: 20 yards
Duration: 30 seconds

After casting the spell, you indicate one fire within range and make a IQ + Talent roll. Upon success, you take control of that flame, and can direct it to your will. You must Concentrate each round to make it do anything that it wouldn’t do normally, but when you do, you can move it up to two yards per second; it must stay in contact with something, but that base does not have to be flammable.

You cannot make large changes in the fire’s intensity (±20%), but if you move it to a larger fuel source, you can make sure it spreads in that source as fast as possible.

Control (Fire) 2 (Increased 1/2D, x10, +15%; Ranged, +40%; Reduced Range, 1/2, –⁠10%; Requires Gestures, –10%; Requires Magic Words, –10%; Sorcery, –15%; Takes Extra Time, x2, –10%) [1.0×40]

Melf’s Minute Meteors (SC)
Evocation, Somatic, Verbal
7 points
Casting Time: 3 seconds
Casting Roll: Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.
Range: 50 yards
Duration: Instantaneous

At the end of casting the spell, the caster starts firing off small spheres of fire (similar in appearance to a fireball’s), one per second for five seconds (including the final second of the casting time). Each second, the caster picks a target, and throws one meteor with its own attack roll. He does not have to do this every time, but if the caster opts to do something else, the spell quits, and he cannot go back to throwing the rest of the meteors.

Each meteor affects everything in a one-yard area (one hex) where it lands; see Scatter, B414, for the effects of a miss. The meteor does 1d–1 burning damage to everything caught in its (minute) explosion.

Innate Attack 1d–1 (burn; Area Effect, 1 yard, +25%; Increased 1/2D, x10, +15%; Sequential Fire 5, +70%; Reduced Range, 1/2, –10%; Requires Gestures, –10%; Requires Magic Words, –10%; Sorcery, –15%; Takes Extra Time, x2, –10%) [1.55×4] Note “Sequential Fire” is Rapid Fire, but is just used for generating extra attacks off the same FP usage.

Protection From Amorph (C)
Abjuration, Somatic, Verbal, Buff
19 points + 6.25/level
Casting Time: 3 seconds
Casting Roll: None
Range: None
Duration: 1 minute

This spell protects the caster from various amorphous creatures, that is, jellies, oozes, puddings, gelatinous cubes, and the like. To count, the creature can be anything with a fluid or semi-solid nature with no fixed form, and which generally attacks through secretions or acids of some sort. Extra-planar creatures (say, some form of lava ooze from the elemental plain of fire) will not notice this protection.

The protection counts as DR 15 against any effect caused by these creatures, including slime trails, puddles, etc., and protects against ‘touch only’ effects and the like. Moreover, corrosive attacks will not reduce this DR (treat it as regular crushing damage instead). However, if this fails, it fails completely. If damage gets through this protection, then it all gets through to work against the caster’s normal gear and DR.

Each level adds 5 DR to the protection.

Damage Reduction 15 (Accessibility: Only Against Amorphous Creatures, –50%; All or Nothing, –10%; Cosmic: No Corrosion, +50%; Force Field, +20%; Magical –10%; No Signature, +20%; Requires Gestures, –⁠10%; Requires Magic Words, –10%; Sorcery, –⁠15%; Takes Extra Time, x2, –10%) [0.25×75]

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Confusion is a really simple writeup, but I really appreciate the variants on Fright Checks in Powers, so I also like getting to use one of them. A lot of people like to default to Ally to explain special effects when I think it’s a poor choice. Evard’s Black Tentacles is a case where the group of physical objects justifies it even though you could handle it in other ways. Melf’s Minute Meteors was a challenge because GURPS assumes you either do a bunch of attacks in one second (using the RoF rules), or you get one attack with each use of an ability (and if you don’t pay FP each time, there’s no logical reason not to do that). The fact that you get to use a separate target for each meteor means you can’t use RoF, which led me to the ‘string of attacks’ used here. I punted on this problem with Magic Missile back in Spells 1, so you might want to let it level up with applications of Sequential Fire.