A History of Magic: Abjuration Subschools and Selected Spells (D&D)

Contents

Previously: The History of Abjuration

Abjuration Subschools: Banishment, Binding, Negation, Shielding, Warding.

Banishment: Spells that cast out entities, physically or metaphysically, causing the magic in the space where they exist, or even within them, to reject them.

Binding: Essentially the inversion of banishment spells, these spells imprison or contain. They may cause the subject to be physically locked into a space (ie; Imprisonment) or to have their powers turned back upon them.

Negation: The second subschool to arise, and the source from which much of the banishment subschool would, in turn, evolve. Spells from this part of the tradition are focused on the manipulation of magic with relationship to energy, rather than physical or spiritual forms. This subschool includes spells that counter, undo, or cause to fail such as Antimagic Shell or Counterspell.

Shielding: The first results of outer path work on defensive magic, and the namesake of the early shield mages. This subschool represents the creation of the variety of barriers used to protect themselves both in research and adventuring. These effects are produced by weaving ambient magic into various forms.

Warding: A derivative of shielding, these effects are turned inward to be released when triggered.

Selected Spells:

Confine

Abjuration cantrip (binding)

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 60 feet

Components: V, S, M (a crystal sphere)

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

You target a creature and bind them to their current location unless they succeed on a Wisdom save. Each turn thereafter if they are not in that location or attack a creature outside that space, as a reaction, you can force them to make a Constitution save or suffer 1d6 damage.

This spell's damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).

Unweave

Abjuration cantrip (negation)

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 120 feet

Components: V, S, M ()

Duration: Instantaneous

You target a creature currently concentrating on a spell or an ongoing magical effect.

If you target a creature concentrating on a spell you force them to make a concentration check with a DC of 5 plus your spellcasting ability modifier and proficiency bonus.

If you target an ongoing magical effect make an ability check using your spellcasting ability and proficiency bonus vs DC 15 + the spell’s level. On a successful check you suspend that effect for one round.

Word of Warding

Abjuration cantrip (warding)

Casting Time: 1 minute

Range: touch

Components: V, S, M (a specially prepared talisman with the pattern of the warding glyph)

Duration: 1 hour

When you cast this spell you create a glyph that harms other creatures, either upon a surface (such as a table or a section of floor or wall) or within an object that can be closed (such as a book, a scroll, or a treasure chest) to conceal the glyph. If you choose a surface, the glyph can cover an area of the surface no larger than 5 feet in diameter. If you choose an object, that object must remain in its place; if the object is moved from where you cast this spell the glyph is broken and the spell ends without being triggered. The glyph is nearly invisible and requires a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC to be found.

You decide what triggers the glyph when you cast the spell. For glyphs inscribed on a surface, the most typical triggers include touching or standing on the glyph, removing another object covering the glyph, approaching within a certain distance of the glyph, or manipulating the object on which the glyph is inscribed. For glyphs inscribed within an object, the most common triggers include opening that object, approaching within a certain distance of the object, or seeing or reading the glyph. Once a glyph is triggered, this spell ends.

You can further refine the trigger so the spell activates only under certain circumstances or according to physical characteristics (such as height or weight), creature kind (for example, the ward could be set to affect aberrations or drow), or alignment. You can also set conditions for creatures that don’t trigger the glyph, such as those who say a certain password.

When you create the glyph, choose explosive runes or glyph of alarm.

Explosive Runes.

When triggered, the glyph erupts with magical energy targeting the individual which triggered the glyph. This creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 1d8 acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison damage on a failed saving throw (your choice when you create the glyph), or half as much damage on a successful one.

Glyph of Alarm

When set you can choose if this alarm is mental or audible. A mental alarm alerts you with a ping in your mind if you are within 120 feet of the glyph. This ping awakens you if you are sleeping. An audible alarm produces the sound of a hand bell for 10 seconds within 30 feet. If the alarm is audible it can deal damage when triggered, as with the Explosive Runes above, except that the damage type is thunder.

This spell's damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th level (4d8).

Dimensional Anchor

4th level Abjuration (binding)

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: touch

Components: V, S, M (an adamantium chain link)

Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You choose a either spacial, teleportation, or temporal magic, and a web of glowing energy springs from your outstretched hand towards a target. A creature or object struck by this energy must make an Intelligence saving throw or be covered with this shimmering field which causes any attempt made to move them using that subschool of magic to fail.

At Higher Level. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 6th level or higher this spell can target an additional creature for every 2 slot levels above 4^th, thus 2 creatures at 6^th level and 3 creatures at 8th. All creatures to be targeted must be within 5 feet of at least one other targeted creature, and all targets must be in one contiguous group.

Ward Space

4th level Abjuration (warding)

Casting Time: 1 hour

Range: touch

Components: V, S, M (rare chalks and inks infused with precious gems with 50 gp, which the spell consumes)

Duration: 24 hours

As you cast the spell, you draw a 10-foot-diameter circle on the ground inscribed with sigils that bar the area to a certain type of magic. When complete, you chose a single subschool of magic. Spells of this school do not function within the warded area, exactly as if it were an antimagic field.

If area of this spell overlaps a space already under the effects of another version of this spell the newer effect is negated in the overlapping area.

The chalks and inks can be replaced with a permanent figure worth 20,000 gp which is used as a focus. If this figure is affixed in a location you can turn that location into a permanently warded this spell in that location, with the same chosen subschool, every day for one year. If the focus is later destroyed or removed the spell is broken, however.

At Higher Level. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher the radius increases by 5 feet for each slot level above 4th.

Conjurer’s Doorway

5th level Abjuration (warding)

Casting Time: 1 hour

Range: Touch

Components: V, S, M (rare chalks and inks infused with precious gems with 50 gp, which the spell consumes)

Duration: 24 hours

This spell must be cast in an area which includes a permanent Teleportation Circle.

As you cast the spell you draw symbols and figures over an area which can cover up to 2,500 cubic feet; shaped as you desire so long as it is contiguous. Once the spell is complete, any attempt to use spells of the teleportation subschool within the warded area cause the subject to be redirected to the permanent Teleport Circle.

The caster may ignore this effect and may specify individuals who are unaffected by either or both of these effects. They may also specify a password that, when used as part of the casting, negates these effects.

You can make this effect permanent by casting it on the same area every day for one year.

Next: The History of Conjuration

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So, in creating low-level spells for the various subschools I’ve tried to make stripped-down versions demonstrations of the essence of the magic used. Abjuration has always been fairly tightly focused, one of the reasons it came through this process virtually untouched. But this also mean there’s not a huge design space to go mucking around in. Shield and mage armor are already abjuration spells, which are pretty much the soul of the barrier subschool (if I do a full spell list I’ll probably move wall of force and its variants here for coherance). I previously posted dismissal, which would have been a fantastic concept demonstration for banishment. I’m pretty happy with my ideas on binding and some of the warding.

I do want to create an Abnegation spell, because it’s a fun name and what I’d originally called dismissal, but I ended up renaming it because of this and the confusion that I’d always want to think of it as a negation spell when it should clearly be banishment. On the other hand, I don’t, at the moment, have a good idea what to do for another abnegation… stay tuned, I’m sure it will appear eventually.