Practical Wizardry 1

What's a sailor to do?

For those who were in the know about my last campaign in the Shallow Sea (plus a few new areas) you may remember how that game ended. Namely, with a high level Thief named Gov being tricked by the major evil deity of the setting, Sulfuras, into stealing an important relic from the church. This relic, in turn, allowed to Sulfuras to start draining the Oceans down. Gov was fine with this, as it allowed him to sail the seas looking for new uncovered sunken ruins to plunder, and that was where the game left off.

My new game started in November of 2025 and has picked up 20 years later. The pirate king Gov is still a feared force on the waves, but not as powerful as he once was. Ratmen have swarmed up from the not underdark, and made a shifty truce with the new ruler of the Kingdom of Salmeaus, and the oceans are lower than ever in living memory, even that of the Elves. Naturally, this has caused some issues with regards to port access. Many once prosperous port cities, like Falsmouth, no have docks sitting above stinking mud or dry land, with the water creeping further away each year. So far, only Dawnsport seems unaffected, and thus sailors of all kinds flock there.

So what does this have to do with Wizards? Well the Glass Order has not been Idle in this time. While the greatest of sages have been trying to determine the cause and a solution for the ocean problem, the B-Team has kept their artifice on to the ever important task of keeping the Order funded; and in doing so has come up with a few spells to help ship owners relocate to new areas. Naturally, these are a guarded secret and to benefit from them requires paying the Order a fair fee.

Portage

Caster can move target any vertically 20’ per round (20), Range 15’ (x1.1), 8 hour duration (x4), Concentration Required (x 0.6), 1 Willing Creature or Object (x1), Willing target is unstable (x 0.66) Can only target objects [vessels] (x 0.8), Willing Target cannot carry anything while affected (x 0.66) Arcane (x1). Total Cost: 18.4

Arcane 2 - Type: movement - Duration: 8 Hours, requires concentration
This spell targets a vessel and transforms it into a floating vessel. The caster may move the vessel up and down 15’ per round within the range, however he may not translate it in any direction. While floating, the vessel can be moved by a team of draft animals or men pulling it by connected ropes. Due to the instability of such movement, any cargo in the ship will be destroyed and creatures cannot ride upon it.
Ships count as a burden equal to 1/20th their capacity for the purposes of determining how many animals needed to pull a ship under the effects of Portage. I.e. a small sailing ship will require a team of 12 heavy horse to pull it. Once the duration expires or the caster loses concentration, this spell is Dispelled and the ship immediately begins falling from the air. Upon landing, it will take 1d6 Structural Damage. Casters must be sure to place the ship upon the ground as gently as possible before the duration of spell ends.

Addendum: This spell fails if the ship being targeted is not empty of passengers and cargo beforehand. The spell also fails if the vessel is not currently water-worthy.
Adjusted range to 15’ Boat must remain in that range relative to the caster.

This spell breaks the recommendation that “No non-esoteric movement spell can ever grant the ability to move a creature or object weighing more than 285 st/level or 2000 st (spell creator’s choice).” However, that is intentional. This recommendation is in place because the existence of widely available Telekinesis spells on heavy objects would radically change how construction is done. I have exempted this spell for two reasons. Firstly, this spell is a recent development in terms of the game world. It is only known to a select circle of NPC wizards. In time, as it becomes broadly known and recreated it may indeed change how ship building is done. That’s fine, I want my game world to change and adapt as magic and tech is discovered. Secondly, I believe that the downsides of this spell make up for the weight limit. Only being able to target ships, and still having to manually pull them is a big ask. It will take weeks to and teams of animals to move ships, not to mention cargo. And since you are risking any number of things happening while this is happening (up to and including your ship being destroyed if the Mage helping you loses concentration) this isn’t a spell that will likely be a viable way to manage ships long term.

Ship to Timber

Transform to/from Hardwood Stick (10), Perpetual (x3.5), Touch (x1), Target creature or object can be of any size (x2), Target must be object of particular type¹ (x .75), Arcane (x1). Total cost: 52.5

Arcane 6 - Type: transmogrification - Duration: Perpetual
This spell transforms a ship into a single hardwood stave. The stave will be made of the same kind of lumber the ship is primarily made of. Cargo aboard the ship is not transformed. The ship reverts to its original form as soon as the caster stops sustaining the spell or it is Dispelled

This is the most expensive spell in terms of both spell points, and actually paying for the spellcasting service of it. It runs the slight risk that the Mage stops sustaining the spell, but otherwise it is likely the safest option to get a ship from one place to the other.

Express Delivery

Caster Teleports Target any place within 100 miles (900), Teleport effect has chance of error (x 0.5), Only Objects may be Targeted [vessels] (x 0.8), Duration Instant (x 0.1), 1 Object (x1), Arcane (x1), Range touch (x 1). Total Cost: 36

Arcane 4 - Type: movement - Duration: Instant
This spell teleports a vessel to a point within 100 miles of its current location. Cargo is not teleported with the ship. This spell has the same failure chance as the normal Teleportation spell.

Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without a lossy teleport spell. This sends a single ship somewhere else within 100 miles, most of the time. Most casters are only going to be Somewhat Familiar with the locations ships need to be sent too so that’s a roughly 25% chance of your ship just being eaten. The upside is that this spell is instant, so you don’t need to drag your ship or carry it around in stick form. Hope you like gambling! This spell also breaks the weight limit above, but I have similar reasons for allowing it in my game.

Anyway, this article was a simple diversion to come up with answers to some questions about how some people are coping with the loss of ports in many places. The simple answer is that most people are dismantling their ships to salvage wood and try something new or trying to build them in the clogged shipyards of Dawnsport or the few remaining smaller still coastal towns and villages. These spells are for those with more money than sense and time (i.e. adventurers, eccentric nobles, and other crazies). Hope you all enjoyed! I will be back to the ASC reviews tomorrow, I am still churning through them. So for now,

Sail On!

- ShockTohp

Edits:

My players are already pointing out ways they would use some of these spells for nefarious means. I have just added the addendum to the spell Portage.

1. This is is not a specific modifier in the base ACKS II spell building system. I used the same amount for Target Weapon must be of particular type.