n.b. Dweomer Day is a series in which I convert a spell from an earlier edition of D&D to 5E or update a homebrew spell from previous editions/campaigns.
I found this spell in the Dragon #200 (December 1993) edition of Arcane Lore. The series presented new spells, sometimes simply sent in by readers, other times written into a narrative and associated with a specific current or historical NPC. This iteration written by Rich Stump presented the spells of Naz, a wizard from Greyhawk. One of the spells stuck out to me as visually interesting and filling a thematic niche – Bands of Ice, which creates these bands out of thin air to incapacitate a foe.
When converting a spell from one edition to another the main question for me is whether I am going to try to maintain its mechanical result or maintain its aesthetic appeal. In this case, the mechanical result doesn’t seem appropriate as a 4th level spell in 5E where spells in general are a lot more powerful in terms of the damage they do, but less powerful in terms of allowing repeated saving throws against the effects. I am not a huge fan of this latter aspect of the latest (last) edition, especially for higher level spells which in the games I run not only are rarely achieved but when they are it is closer to the end of the campaign than the beginning. For the record, I have never had a campaign with characters getting past 11th level and that is after literally half a decade of play. Furthermore, reading the original text of the spell provides a great example of how fidgety and non-standard spells could be back in 1E and 2E days, and if it is one thing I like about spells in the post-3E era is how simplified and straightforward they tend to be. Now, of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t like a little bit of idiosyncratic weird potential side effects written into the spell, but there should not be a long list of exceptions and fidgety bits in every spells. I just like straightforward concerns, like bouncing lighting bolts and fireballs that expand to fill up their area leading to potential blowback. In this case, I decided the environment the spell is cast in (when extreme) might have an effect on the spell’s power and duration, in addition to the type of creature it is cast on.
When converting a spell from one edition to another the main question for me is whether I am going to try to maintain its mechanical result or maintain its aesthetic appeal. In this case, the mechanical result doesn’t seem appropriate as a 4th level spell in 5E where spells in general are a lot more powerful in terms of the damage they do, but less powerful in terms of allowing repeated saving throws against the effects. I am not a huge fan of this latter aspect of the latest (last) edition, especially for higher level spells which in the games I run not only are rarely achieved but when they are it is closer to the end of the campaign than the beginning. For the record, I have never had a campaign with characters getting past 11th level and that is after literally half a decade of play. Furthermore, reading the original text of the spell provides a great example of how fidgety and non-standard spells could be back in 1E and 2E days, and if it is one thing I like about spells in the post-3E era is how simplified and straightforward they tend to be. Now, of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t like a little bit of idiosyncratic weird potential side effects written into the spell, but there should not be a long list of exceptions and fidgety bits in every spells. I just like straightforward concerns, like bouncing lighting bolts and fireballs that expand to fill up their area leading to potential blowback. In this case, I decided the environment the spell is cast in (when extreme) might have an effect on the spell’s power and duration, in addition to the type of creature it is cast on.
But looking at my conversion now, it does read kind of clunky, so maybe I went overboard. However, since it only effects one creature at a time (unless cast at higher levels) and has limited opportunities to save against, I think those secondary condition help maintain its power without being overwhelmingly powerful. When making the changes to the spell I used Evard’s Black Tentacles as point of comparison. Since Bands of Ice only effects one target (unless upcast) and not an area of effect like Evard’s, I made it deal more damage each round. I also simplified the material components. Finally, I renamed the spell Naz’s Bands of Ice because 1. “bands of ice” by itself is too bland a name, and 2. in my campaign spells with names attached are still rare and new enough that they cannot be taken upon level advancement but have to be found some way in-game.
Click here for a PDF version of Naz’s Bands of Ice.
HOW I RUN IT. 