The Apprentice’s Companion I: First Level Arcana

By Darkgolem
Updated 11/07/06

First level spells are often the most versatile and useful of spells awizard can have.  While not as awesome or flashy overall, they usually have applicability in the most circumstances among all the spells a spell caster can learn.

Author’s Note:  These spells have been thoroughly researched, and should be very accurate based upon post release testing. Hit dice for test subjects had to be estimated as the following: kobolds ½ hit dice, hobgoblins 1, bugbears 3 and ogres 4, but this carried true for testing different spells, so probably is correct.

Wizard and sorcerer ratings are a gauge (with 5 being best) of how worthwhile that spell might be for that class to take.

Burning Hands Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Medium School: Evocation Range: Short Area: 10’ long, 5’ wide cone Components: somatic, verbal Duration: Instant Target: foe, directional, breakable Damage: (1d2+2) per level fire Save: Reflex for ½ damage Notes: “ A cone of searing flame shoots forth, damaging targets in the area of the flames.” This spell requires you to stand still while casting, and due to the mobile nature of combatants is not as good as it could be.  It is the only damaging 1st level spell that affects an area, making it worth considering if a sorcerer.  This spell allows a reflex save for half damage. Wizard Rating: 4 Sorcerer Rating: 4

Cause Fear Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Necromancy Range: Medium Components: Somatic, Verbal Duration: 20 seconds or 6 seconds (extendable) Target: Foe Save: Will to avoid Notes: “Enemy becomes frightened.”  This spell causes your opponent to run away from you, and will not resist if attacked.  While of some use in disrupting your opponents, hypnotism and charm person last longer or affect more opponents.  If the opponent should make its save, it will be shaken instead, for 6 seconds.  This spell will not affect foes over 5 hit dice. Wizard Rating: 1 Sorcerer Rating: 1

Charm Person Cool down (seconds): Wizard 12 Sorcerer 6 Casting Time: Medium School: Enchantment Range: Long Components: somatic, verbal Duration: Special (save every 3d6 + 12 seconds) Target: foe Save: Will to avoid Notes: “Charms an enemy humanoid, which will fight as a trusted friend and ally.”  This spell causes your opponent to fight for you in combat.  It has the very annoying drawback of preventing completion of events that require you to kill your charmed foe, such as doors that won’t open until all your opponents are killed, etc.  Your foe receives a save when you first cast charm, and every 15 - 30 seconds afterward until he fails.  Until then, your enemy will fight for you.  This spell will only affect humanoids. Wizard Rating: 4 Sorcerer Rating: 3

Chill Touch Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Necromancy Range: Short Components: somatic, verbal Duration: Instant Target: foe Damage: (1d3+3) per level negative energy + 1 str damage (max 5d3+15) Save: Will save for half (non-undead), avoid fear (if undead) Notes: “Makes a touch echo with the chill of death.  On the undead, causes a panicked flight.”  The fear affect has the same properties as Cause Fear except it only will affect undead.  Because of the high will saves undead have, this spell is not dependable for driving intelligent undead away.  This spell causes negative energy (as opposed to cold) damage.  This spell does not affect unliving creatures, such as constructs, unless otherwise noted. Wizard Rating: 4 Sorcerer Rating: 4

Detect Secret Doors Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Divination Range: Medium Components: somatic, verbal Duration: 1 minute per level (extendable) Target: self Notes: “Reveals secret and hidden doors.”  An unremarkable but occasionally useful spell. This spell appears to be bugged--if a party member is near a secret door when this spell is cast, the caster will not note the secret door's presence. Wizard Rating: 3 Sorcerer Rating: 2

Expeditious Retreat Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Transmutation Range: Short Components: somatic, verbal Duration: 1 minute per level (extendable) Target: self Notes: “ Expeditious retreat increases the caster’s base run speed”  The increase is about 10%.  While handy for keeping up with a hasty party, running from battle is too sudden a necessity for this to be overly useful.  Good for the wizard who has slots to spare, a waste of precious slots for most sorcerers. Wizard Rating: 2 Sorcerer Rating: 1

Feather Fall Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Transmutation Range: Short Components: verbal Duration: 6 seconds per level (extendable) Target:  self, ally, positional Notes: “Feather Fall causes an ally to fall slowly preventing damage normally caused by falling long distances.”  This can be cast, theoretically, on a point designated by a cursor, but in reality saving a falling ally is too difficult for this to work easily.  Useful when in a risky height, however. Wizard Rating: 2 Sorcerer Rating: 1

Grease Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Medium School: Conjuration Range: Medium Area: 10’ diameter circle Components: material, somatic, verbal Duration: 5 seconds per level (extendable) Target: foe, positional, verbal Save: DC 12 Reflex to avoid trip, save every 6 seconds Notes: “Covers the ground with a layer of slippery grease, forcing targets to make a reflex save or fall.”  This spell can be targeted on a location or a foe.  This is a very situational spell, useful for blocking a narrow approach by your enemies, but not as useful for a disorganized or melee-oriented party. The DC 12 save for this spell cannot be changed at this time by any means.  A new save is forced every 6 seconds.  Regardless of a creature making a save or not, they move at 50% normal rate, except vermin. Wizard Rating: 3 Sorcerer Rating: 2

Hypnotism Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Enchantment Range: Long Area: 10’ diameter circle Components: somatic, verbal Duration: 25 seconds Target: foe (area) Save: Will to avoid Notes: “Gestures and droning incantations fascinate nearby enemies, causing them to stop and stare blankly”  Arguably, the most useful of the non-damaging spell at first level.  Note that it may have a hit dice limit to be found in later levels; this has not been determined yet by the author of this guide. This spell affects at least 12 hit dice of creatures, and can affect giants and giant-kin in addition to humanoids. Wizard Rating: 5 Sorcerer Rating: 1

Jump Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Transmutation Range: Short Components: material, somatic, verbal Duration: 1 minute per level (extendable) Target: ally, self Notes: “Jump gives the target a bonus to Jump skill checks.” The bonus granted by this spell is +10 at levels one through 4, +20 at levels five through 8th, and +30 at levels 9 through 10.  There are situations where attaining a height is very useful for archers and casters, but overall this is spell that has limited usage. Wizard Rating: 3 Sorcerer Rating: 2

Mage Armor Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Conjuration Range: Short Components: focus, somatic, verbal Duration: 4 minutes + 1 minute per level (extendable) Target: friend, self Notes: “An invisible, but tangible field of force surrounds an ally, providing an armor bonus.  Because mage armor is made of force, incorporeal attacks cannot bypass it like normal armor.”  Keep in mind that this is the same type of bonus found with regular armor and shield, and does not stack with those bonus types. Wizard Rating: 5 Sorcerer Rating: 4

Magic Missile Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Evocation Range: Long Components: somatic, verbal Duration: Instant Target: foe Damage: 1d2 + 3 force; 1 missile per 2 levels (1,3,5,7,9) Notes: “A missile of magical energy darts forth and unerringly strikes its target.”  While less damaging than the other types of first level damage spells, this spell has certain advantages that make it retain value over levels.  It affects incorporeal foes without fail, it increases in damage to 5d2+15 at level 9, it has long range, and it does not require a to-hit roll. Wizard Rating: 5 Sorcerer Rating: 5

Niac’s Cold Ray Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: short School: conjuration Range: medium Components: focus, material, somatic, verbal Duration: instant Target: foe, directional, breakable Damage: 1d5+5 cold/level, max 5d5+25 Save: reflex to avoid Notes: “A ray of freezing air projects from your finger.  It deals 1d10 points of damage, but deals no damage if a creature makes it’s saving throw”.  This spell is most useful as a single target spell against creatures vulnerable to cold.  Note that because it does no damage if a save is made, spell casters who do not make their spells saving throw difficulty class as high as possible should consider other spells. Wizard Rating: 4 Sorcerer Rating: 3

Obscuring Mist Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Medium School: Conjuration Range: Short Area: 10’ diameter circle Components: somatic, verbal Duration: 30 seconds per level (extendable) Target: self Notes: “A misty vapor arises around the caster, obscuring all sight.”  This vapor stays where created once cast.  While in the cloud, all are provided total concealment (the equivalent to invisibility for bonuses) and given total blindness.  Creatures in the mist are granted a 20% miss chance if attacked. Wizard Rating: 3 Sorcerer Rating: 2

Protection From Evil Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Medium School: Abjuration Range: Short Components: somatic, verbal Duration: 1 minute per level Target: friend, self Notes: “Creates a magical barrier that wards a target from attacks by evil creatures.  It grants a bonus to armor and saves.”  Against evil creatures' attacks and spells this provides a +1 deflection armor class bonus and +1 divine bonus to saving throws.  The saving throw is ok, but replicated by the presence of a paladin or a Bless spell.  This spell (and spells of the same sort that protect from other alignments) makes the creature who benefits from this spell immune to charm and domination spells and abilities, command undead and similar.  It does not affect spells that force a specific action, such as Otto’s Resistible dance. Wizard Rating: 4 Sorcerer Rating: 2

Ray of Enfeeblement Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Medium School: Necromancy Range: Medium Components: somatic, verbal Duration: Short Target: foe, directional Notes: “A coruscating ray springs toward the target, inflicting a penalty to strength.”  This spell is good for "debuffing" a tough foe.  Remember that the affects of multiple rays do not stack, but overlap. Wizard Rating: 4 Sorcerer Rating: 3

Repair Light Damage Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Transmutation Range: Short Components: somatic, verbal Duration: Instant Target: friend, self Notes: “Transmutes the structure of a living construct ally to repair light damage.”  This spell heals 1d8+ (1 per level) damage to a warforged.  There is no reason a wizard should not have this spell.  A sorceress may not wish to spend the known spell slot. Wizard Rating: 5 Sorcerer Rating: 3

Shield Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Abjuration Range: Short Components: somatic, verbal Duration: 1 minute per level (extendable) Target: self Notes: “Grants a shield bonus to armor class and protects from magic missiles.”  This spell seems to provide a deflection bonus, rather than an armor bonus, providing protection against touch attacks and stacking with regular and mage armor. Wizard Rating: 5 Sorcerer Rating: 5

Shocking Grasp Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Evocation Range: Short Components: somatic, verbal Duration: Instant Target: foe Save: Reflex for 1/2 damage Damage: (1d3 + 3 per level) electricity, max 5d3+3 Notes: “Delivers a jolt of electricity damage.”  While it does not have the cause fear affect on undead, this spell is affected by enhancements that increase electrical attacks. Wizard Rating: 4 Sorcerer Rating: 3

Sleep Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Medium School: Enchantment Range: Long Area: 5’ radius Components: verbal, somatic Duration: 1 minute per level Target: foe, directional Save: Will to avoid Notes: “Sleep induces a magical slumber to come upon enemies, rendering them helpless until attacked. The spell is ineffective against undead or constructs.”  This spell can be targeted upon a spot designated by a cursor, but the fast paced nature of combat makes this a difficult technique.  When placed upon a running creature, it will appear at the location the creature was when activated, usually missing.  Hypnotism is much more effective for disabling creatures until dealt with in other ways. This spell affects a flat 4 hit dice of creatures upon each use. Wizard Rating: 2 Sorcerer Rating: 1

Summon Monster I Cool down (seconds): Wizard 60 Sorcerer 30 Casting Time: Long School: Conjuration Range: Short Components: material, somatic, verbal Duration: 1 minute Target: self, positional Notes: “Summons a celestial dog to fight for you for a brief time.”  The celestial dog that this spell summons is useful for taking the brunt of attacks that would be otherwise targeted on you and useful for finding opponents around corners.  At later levels it is not as useful but still can find foes that are behind furniture, placed in the way of suspected traps, and so on. Wizard Rating: 5 Sorcerer Rating: 3

Tumble Cool down (seconds): Wizard 2 Sorcerer 1 Casting Time: Short School: Transmutation Range: Short Components: material, somatic, verbal Duration: 1 minute per level (extendable) Target: ally, self Notes:  “Tumble gives an ally a bonus to their Tumbling skill.”  This spell grants a +10 to Tumble skill.  This is very useful in combat, when enemies are inevitably close to you, if you or your fellow party members have the Tumble skill. Wizard Rating: 3 Sorcerer Rating: 2

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