Destructive uses of non-destructive spells

Ley Line walkers, Juicers, Coalition Troops, Samas, Tolkeen, & The Federation Of Magic. Come together here to discuss all things Rifts®.

Moderators: Immortals, Supreme Beings, Old Ones

User avatar
Qev
Hero
Posts: 987
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2005 7:57 pm
Location: Toronto, ON
Contact:

Destructive uses of non-destructive spells

Unread post by Qev »

Inspired by this:

flatline wrote:If you're really interested in power generation, build a big linear accelerator and use mystic portal to allow a magnet to continually fall the length of it before entering the portal and reappearing at the top. You can even control the steady state frequency of the power generated by adjusting the coil density and magnet mass.

--flatline


A 15th level spellcaster could use this to accelerate any object (that would fit through the portal) up to 9km/s, or five times the velocity of the Boom Gun's rounds. Of course, this does require some prep (a vertical acceleration tube, sealed and evacuated) and about 15 minutes to get up to speed. :)
"Then you can simply spead the ground dried corpse bits amongst the plants as needed." - Sir Ysbadden

"There weren't many nukes launched in the apocalypse, so the nuclear winter wasn't that bad." - Killer Cyborg
User avatar
flatline
Knight
Posts: 6153
Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:05 pm
Location: Memphis, TN

Re: Destructive uses of non-destructive spells

Unread post by flatline »

Qev wrote:Inspired by this:

flatline wrote:If you're really interested in power generation, build a big linear accelerator and use mystic portal to allow a magnet to continually fall the length of it before entering the portal and reappearing at the top. You can even control the steady state frequency of the power generated by adjusting the coil density and magnet mass.

--flatline


A 15th level spellcaster could use this to accelerate any object (that would fit through the portal) up to 9km/s, or five times the velocity of the Boom Gun's rounds. Of course, this does require some prep (a vertical acceleration tube, sealed and evacuated) and about 15 minutes to get up to speed. :)


Use energize spell to double the duration of mystic portal.

--flatline
User avatar
cornholioprime
Palladin
Posts: 7686
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2004 1:05 am
Comment: At long last....I am FINALLY free of my wonderful addiction to the online Flash game "Bloons."
Well, mostly.....
Location: In the Hivelands with General Jericho Holmes, taking advantage of suddenly stupid Xiticix...

Re: Destructive uses of non-destructive spells

Unread post by cornholioprime »

Hmm.

Ooookayyyyy.......


How about casting "Metropolis" on a nuclear pile, expending the necessary permanent PPE expenditure to make the effect itself permanent.

Since the "original" state of the Nuclear Fuel was 100% or close to 100% [fill in the blank with a fissile material here], any decay-based changes in the state of the composition of the pile would be 'healed' per the effects of the spell, at least going by the strict wording of the spell.

Voila!! A never-ending source of nuclear fuel for your favorite Power Plant or Giant Robot!

(That's the best that I could do on short notice, so don't slap me around too hard.)
The Kevinomicon, Book of Siembieda 3:16.

16 Blessed art Thou above all others, O COALITION STATES, beloved of Kevin;

17 For Thou art allowed to do Evil without Limit, nor do thy Enemies retaliate.

18 Thy Military be run by Fools and Dotards.

19 Yet thy Nation suffers not. Praise be unto Him that protects thee from all harm!!
User avatar
drewkitty ~..~
Monk
Posts: 17782
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2000 1:01 am
Location: Eastvale, calif
Contact:

Re: Destructive uses of non-destructive spells

Unread post by drewkitty ~..~ »

spell ring--light healing-(gold ring with topaz stones)-takes ppe from the wearer and uses it to cast it on the wearer till the wearer is out of PPE(6) the ring has three casting actions per 15 sec.


Will keep a mage hale and whole while draining his PPE so he can't use magic.
May you be blessed with the ability to change course when you are off the mark.
Each question should be give the canon answer 1st, then you can proclaim your house rules.
Reading and writing (literacy) is how people on BBS interact.
User avatar
Killer Cyborg
Priest
Posts: 28178
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2001 2:01 am
Comment: "Your Eloquence with a sledge hammer is a beautiful thing..." -Zer0 Kay
Location: In the ocean, punching oncoming waves
Contact:

Re: Destructive uses of non-destructive spells

Unread post by Killer Cyborg »

Good thread idea.

Grabbing my book of magic....

Spoiler:
Chant to Control Ley Line Storms
Can be used to capture a ley line storm and send it at an enemy.
And when the storm passes over the enemy, you can be waiting on the other side, to send it back again.

Chant/Ritual of Divining
-Can be used to find a lost child. Then you can get to the child before its family does, and hold it for ransom.
-Can be used to reveal "where good hunting might be found." Which could easily be twisted in favor of vampires, psi-stalkers, bounty hunters, etc.
-Can be used to reveal whether a particular person is in danger. Which would be useful in determining whether or not ambushes set by you and your followers are likely to be successful, before the fact.
-Can be used to reveal the presence of bad medicine, witches, evil spirits, gods, revenge, hate, greed, lust, whether taboos have been broken (and which ones), whether somebody is lying, whether a visitor is dangerous or has evil intentions, or the cause of trouble/murder/bad medicine. Any of which might, under the right circumstances, make for some pretty good blackmail.

Chant of Double Water
Can be used to help replenish anti-vampire ammunition.
Or, with the proper contraption, as an amusing way to drown a person.

Or, technically, you might be able to use it to cause explosions.
In order for the chant to work, "the character chants and hums while pouring equal amounts of water from one container into two other containers. He then does a little rain style dance around the two containers... [blah, blah, blah]... Magically, the amount of water doubles in both containers."
So what you do is you take one 2-gallon jug of water, along with two 1-gallon MDC canteens.
Fill each canteen from the first jug, then seal them, then finish the chant to double the amount of water inside the sealed MDC containers.

Dance of Good Medicine
Can be used to:
-Increase crop yields by 20%. Which would be great for any number of drug dealers.
-Ensure that the subject of a hunt will be found with relative ease, and that the hunters "will not be bitten or mauled."
Most Dangerous Game, anyone?
-Ensure that travelers will not be attacked or troubled by animals or insects, and travel time is 20% faster than expected.
Good to cast on attack groups.
Could be used to increase the speed (and therefore damage) of ammunition, though you'd probably have to have a living creature inside. But that's not hard: trap a flea in a hollowpoint bullet or railgun round, stick a mouse or cockroach into the head of a missile, etc.
Or maybe have entities possess the ammo.
-If performed at a wedding, "the married couple and all participants are filled with happiness, there are no squabbles or brawls, and nothing goes wrong."
This'd be GREAT for forced weddings, where the bride is a reluctant, kidnapped princess or something.

Dance of Life
Like any healing magic, it'd be great for keeping torture victims alive.
For that matter, you could figure out how to cut meat out of livestock and have them heal back up again for later use. Free food, as long as you don't mind torturing an animal.
Also, vampires might be able to keep victims alive in spite of blood loss this way.
(The above holds true for a lot of healing magic, but I probably won't bother to go over it again with other healing spells.)

Rain Maker's Rain Dance
It's right there in the spell description (BoM 30):
"Too much rain may cause flash floods, rivers to overflow, and crops to be damaged. Greedy or evil Rain Makers sometimes blackmail people into paying him more under the thread of destructive rains and lightning..."

Rain Maker's Dance To Calm Storms
Also lets the Rain Maker call down mega-damage lightning!

Rain Maker's Dance To Part Waters
Great for Moses-style ambushes/traps.

Rain Maker's Dance To Ride The Lightning
When this is cast, you're struck by lightning and vanish, seemingly obliterated... but in reality, teleported to another location.
Which would be great for insurance scams.
And since it teleports up to 1,000 lbs it's good for theft as well.

Commune With Nature
This spell gives you a general feel for the surrounding ecosystem, and lets you know if anything is damaging it.
Which is pretty handy if you want to destroy the local ecosystem, and want to figure out the best way to do it.
Might also be good for bounty-hunting, if the target is disruptive to the ecosystem in some way (stepping on bugs, hunting for food, clearing underbrush with a machete, etc.).

Shape Plants
Lets you turn plants into obscene/offensive sculptures.
Also probably good for making traps.

Weather Sense\
Lets you predict the weather.
Which is great for evil wedding planners and such.

Insect Leap
Lets you jump up to 10' high (+6'/level).
Which can be pretty destructive, if you grab somebody's necktie first.
Or just grab the person/creatuer, and drop them at the high point, and let them fall.

Plant Virtual Sight
Like most forms of scrying, this would be great for peeping toms and/or blackmailers.

Weave Plants
Can be used to torture sentient plant-creatures.
Or for making ropes and sacks, which can be handy for kidnappings and/or hangings.
It can also be used to mend MDC Wood Armor, which indicates that it could also be used to sabotage or damage MDC wood armor.

Accelerate Plant Growth
Great way to assassinate anybody eating any kind of seed.
Also possibly good for messing with plant-creatures, by turning their kids into physical adults and robbing them of their childhood, or by making the adults into grotesque giants, or other ways.
Also good for assassinating trees, by making them tall enough that they're sure to get hit by lightning.
Also good for ruining certain crops by making the seeds sprout early, while still in the fruit/whatever. (though this would be expensive and time consuming, so would only be really useful for rare and precious fruits.

Chitin
This spell covers you with MDC chitin, which makes you look like a monster or D-Bee.
So you can cast it, attack a village, then later offer to track down and kill the "monster" for a fee.

Shrink Plant
Again, good for messing with plant creatures.
Also good for destroying landmarks, messing with the environment, and making bonsai trees.
Good for killing anything that's living inside a living plant of some kind.
Might work on a Millenium Tree.

Strengthen Plant
Make it really rough for people to mow their lawns.
Also, fun to cast on poison ivy and kudzu.

Suspended Animation
Do some crimes, take a decade-long nap, then go back and do some more.
As long as you have a good sanctuary.

Heal The Earth
Can be used to increase crop yields by 10% per level for 1d4 years.
Again, good for all kinds of nasty crops, like plants that can be used for drugs/poisons.

Healing Flame
Okay, I've covered healing magic before, but the additional evil benefit with this is that when you bring somebody out of a coma, or back from the dead, their PB is reduced by 25%!
So you can make people really ugly, if you want to.
"To The Pain" ugly.

Cloud of Harmony
Sooths hostile thoughts and emotions, making people more willing to negotiate for peace.
Which means you can have your minions attack someplace, then negotiate for peace when the victims are ready to fight back... then hit them again later.

Fog of Peace
Mind-control magic that makes people more peaceful, and reluctant to fight, imposing combat penalties.
Perfect time for your robot (or golem) minions to swoopin.

Healing Rain
Makes crops grow 2x normal speed, the uses of which are already mentioned.
This spell also washes away the carnage of battle, which is great for cleanign up crime scenes.

Blink of an Eye
Can teleport any single object weighing less than 50 lbs to any location within eyesight.
Combined with any kind of telescopic vision, you can send grenades and fusion blocks to devastate enemies from afar.

Cloud of Ascension
Pick people up, and drop them from as high as you can go (where there's breathable air).
Or go to the upper atmosphere, and drop rocks/bombs/leaflets on people.
(Almost any flight/levitation/jumping spells can do the same thing, so I'm probably going to skip others.)

Cloud Portal
"the white Cloud Portal will allow any who pass through it to teleport anywhere the spell caster has chosen."
Use scrying or astral projection to memorize what the inside of a boulder looks like.
Then convince people to step through the portal.

Cloudweaving
Sky graffiti, as profane/obscene as you want.
Or just blot out the sun, dropping the land into a world of permanent darkness.

Cloud Castle
Use this spell to make the clouds solid, but don't change their outside appearance.
Then laugh, as flying creatures and vehicles ram right into them.

Create Water
"Say... that's a nice environmentally sealed helmet you've got there!"
"Glub!"

Flying Chariot
An 80 MDC flying chariot that flies up to 200 mph, and directed by my thoughts?
Sounds like an improvised missile to me.

Food From the Heavens
Creates bread that falls from the sky.
Tell me that's not going to bring a LOT of rats and pigeons, if you just cast it a lot, in the right places.
Also, it's gotta get moldy after a while.

Paint The Sky
More sky graffiti.

Psi-Flash Warning
Telepathic warning is sent to anybody known to the sender, or as a general transmission to a group or place.
And the sender can conceal their identity.
And it's only 20 PPE, with a range of 1,000 miles, plus 300 miles per level.
So... yeah, you've got the perfect tool for harassment.
"I'm gonna kill you, ____!"

Or, for more sinister purposes:
People of Tolkeen! You are in grave danger.....
... of paying too much for your car insurance!
Buy Geico!


Breathe Without Air
Fake your own death by hanging, to avoid angry mobs or for insurance purposes.
Keep a victim alive longer, so they can watch as you cut their lungs from their body.
Fart in public.

Create Mild Wind
Mess with people who have dropped some important papers.

Stop Wind
Mess with sailors, or kids flying kites.

Change Wind Direction
See previous two entries.

Distant Voice
Harassment tool.
Obsene mage calls.

Silence
Cast on anything with sonar.

Air Bubble
Cast on fish.

Dissipate Gases
"This spell dissipates/destroys all gases..."
Oxygen is a gas.
:p

Protection from Lightning
Makes the caster "impervious to lightning and electricity effects; no damage whatsoever."
This wording indicates that the actual effect of the spell is that the character isn't damaged or paralyzed by electricity, not that it doesn't pass through the character.
So you could electrify yourself, then touch other people with lethal effects... for them.

Wind Cushion
"Anybody trying to enter the Wind Cusion from outside is knocked 1d4x10 yards/meters and suffers 3d6 SDC damage."
Great way to keep people from getting to lifeboats, or escaping burning buildings, or otherwise trying to go places that you don't want them to.

Dowsing
Useful for when you want to poison every source of clean water in an area.

Mystic Fulcrum
You can lift 50% more than normal, which means you can throw heavier rocks.
Combined with Supernatural Strength or other spells or PS enhancers, this can become quite impressive, damage-wise.

Rock to Mud
Destroy diamonds and other precious jewels.
Be the bane of Techno-Wizards everywhere!

Create Dirt or Clay
50 lbs per level, range of 10'.
Bury people alive.
Clog jet intakes.

Dirt to Clay
Ruin people's gardens.

Dirt to Sand
Same.

Dig
Undermine foundations.

Encase Object in Stone
Helmets, glasses, jet intakes, etc.
Also, vampires in bat form.

Cocoon of Stone
Fly somehow (spell, jetpack, trebuchet... it doesn't matter).
Launch yourself at an enemy full speed, then cast this spell right before you hit, turning yourself into a 500 lb mega-damage missile.
Also fun during grappling, especially if you're on top.

Clay to Lead
Lots of people like to drink from clay pots and other clay containers.
Turn subtle parts of the containers to lead.
Or find clay banks/deposits in the water supply.

Also, good combo with Create Dirt/Clay (or Wall of Clay), because you can bury somebody under Clay, then turn it into lead.
Not sure what the spell would do to a Golem or Elemental.

Clay to Stone
Same combo advantages as Clay to Lead.
Also, good way to make improvised tools/weapons.

Travel Through Walls
Burglary.

Clay or Stone to Iron
Pretty much the same as "Clay to Lead" or "Clay to Stone."
More useful against certain enemies, though.
Nice combo with "Rust."
Also, any of the "Stone to..." spells would work well in combo with Petrification.
You could turn somebody into stone, then turn them into iron, rendering the "Stone to Flesh" spell useless unless they're first turned back into stone.
Or you could melt them down.

Create Steel
Can combo with "Clay or Stone to Iron," because this spell can turn iron into steel or other alloys.
Also, you can put entire factories out of work.

Stone to Flesh
Great for ruining anything made from stone: buildings, weapons, golems, whatever.
Also great for attracting scavengers and other pests, as well as generally creating a mess when the flesh starts to rot.
Another great way to disable TW devices, btw.

Travel Through Stone
Obvious advantages in burglary and assassination.
Also, it might allow you to hide inside a large stone golem, and cast buffing spells from the inside.

Wood to Stone
"Nice boat!"
>sploosh<

Also great for protecting vampires from nasty people who want to hurt them with wood.
Or spoiling campfires.
Or messing with architecture.
Or destroying trees.

Create Coal
20 lbs per level means 200 lbs of weight dropped on somebody for only 5 PPE.
Also, handy for firebugs.

Impervious to Fire
(along with any similar power/ability/whatever)
Get near the enemy, then drop a heavy plasma grenade at your feet.
Or, if you're handy with technology, remove the warhead from a Plasma LRM, and strap it to your back rigged with a deadman's switch or other trigger you can set off as needed.
5d6x10 MD to a 50' radius, and you're unharmed.

Heat Object & Boil Water
Get a sealed MDC object that's filled with water.
Then boil the water.
Something should go Boom.
Also good for obvious stuff, like ruining people's drinking/dining experience, etc.

Extinguish Fire
Good for snuffing internal combustion engines.

Part Fire
Same as Part Water, only more limited circumstances.

Cloud of Steam
Good for opening mail, or for ruining documents.

Eternal Flame
Good for torture, of course.
Also good for combos, such as Fuel Flame and a Permanence Ward (on the Fuel Flame).
Or just cast this spell repeatedly, to set an entire area permanently ablaze.
Cast enough in a lake, and it'll boil away eventually.
Cast it randomly, just to annoy people. Stick them in public streets/sidewalks, rest rooms, etc.

Color Water
Make people think that you're turning it into blood.

Float On Water
Great to cast on people who are on fire, and are trying to extinguish themselves.
Or people who need to swim under the water for some reason, like to chase an enemy or grab a treasure.

Salt Water to Fresh
Kill certain kinds of fish/wildlife.

Water to Wine
Kill fish/wildlife.
Annoy alcoholics and drunks.
Put vineyards out of business.
Spike the punch.

Breathe Under Water
Pull people into the water and drown them.

Liquids to Water
Take out internal combustion engines. Ruin vineyards. Mess with vampires.

Death Trance
Insurance scams.
Fake your own assassination/murder, to stir up trouble.

Cleanse
This spell can remove "just about anything that the spell caster considers to be 'unclean,'" which makes it seem ripe for abuse to me.
Hair, for example.
Makeup.
Tattoos...

Also, good for cleaning up crime scenes.

Negate Poison/Toxin
You're a walking buzz-kill.

Impervious to Poison
Win drinking contests.
Or poison everybody at the table, yourself included.
Or drop a poison gas grenade at your feet when enemies are close.

Armor Bizarre
Cast on a Coalition soldier, and watch his buddies turn on him.


(Eh. I'm tired. I'll do more later, maybe.)
Annual Best Poster of the Year Awards (2012)

"Your Eloquence with a sledge hammer is a beautiful thing..." -Zer0 Kay

"That rifle on the wall of the laborer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there." -George Orwell

Check out my Author Page on Amazon!
User avatar
eliakon
Palladin
Posts: 9093
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:40 pm
Comment: Palladium Books Canon is set solely by Kevin Siembieda, either in person, or by his approval of published material.
Contact:

Re: Destructive uses of non-destructive spells

Unread post by eliakon »

flatline wrote:
Qev wrote:Inspired by this:

flatline wrote:If you're really interested in power generation, build a big linear accelerator and use mystic portal to allow a magnet to continually fall the length of it before entering the portal and reappearing at the top. You can even control the steady state frequency of the power generated by adjusting the coil density and magnet mass.

--flatline


A 15th level spellcaster could use this to accelerate any object (that would fit through the portal) up to 9km/s, or five times the velocity of the Boom Gun's rounds. Of course, this does require some prep (a vertical acceleration tube, sealed and evacuated) and about 15 minutes to get up to speed. :)


Use energize spell to double the duration of mystic portal.

--flatline


This is called a Niven Relativity Bomb, after Larry Niven who first published a weaponized use of teleportation, and the maximum speed if the tube is a vacum is just under the speed of light.....a generic 'indestructible' item, say a nail from a kuznya, would create craters the size of the gulf of mexico........ With temporal or dimensional magic you could accelarate even faster...or even go faster than light... (EE Doc Smith used objects from another world where the speed of light was higher to make nasty missles....)
The rules are not a bludgeon with which to hammer a character into a game. They are a guide to how a group of friends can get together to weave a collective story that entertains everyone involved. We forget that at our peril.

Edmund Burke wrote:The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
User avatar
Zamion138
Hero
Posts: 1569
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 4:34 pm
Location: Carson City NV

Re: Destructive uses of non-destructive spells

Unread post by Zamion138 »

find a sealed area, cast create air till preasure gets to lethal levels....
place hand on enemy, cast create air, form gas pocket inside body, if not lethal extrmely paifully...after sugery i had some traped gas once...i was not gonna go for a run or get in a fight let me tell you....

water to wine.....in a desert..... sure they can still drink it but dehydration is now pretty asured if they dont find anouther source of actual water.

globe of daylight on a robot/PA...ect.'s senosers/head. heck anyone head your looking into a globe of day light.

Speed of snail...cast on moving part of a larger gun thats doing full auto, only a small part like the extractor or reciver... makes a good fail weapons spell that can effect 1d6 targets and 60ft range.

and more
User avatar
Akashic Soldier
Knight
Posts: 4114
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2011 11:23 pm
Comment: Theres space for a paper airplane race in the eye of a hurricane.

Re: Destructive uses of non-destructive spells

Unread post by Akashic Soldier »

Black Ooze + Repeated uses of Create Water = Mess.
"I flew back to the states just to vote for Trump."
Mumpsimus can be defined as someone who obstinately clings to an error, bad habit or prejudice, even after the foible has been exposed.
I will not answer posts/questions/accusations by people on my foes list.
The Ugly Truth - Carl Gleba on the Cabal of 24.
Rifts® Online: Megaversal Highway.
Locked

Return to “Rifts®”