Veles Whirl (3.5e Spell)/Original Edition

Author: Luigifan18 (talk) Date Created: October 28, 2012 Status: New Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Veles Whirl

Evocation [Earth, Water]
Level:	Cleric 4, Druid 4, Sorcerer/Wizard 4
Components:	V, S, M, F/DF, "(see text)" is not in the list (V, V (Brd only), V (Bard only), S, F, DF, M, M/DF, F/DF, XP, ...) of allowed values for the "Component" property.
Casting time:	3 rounds
Range:	Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Effect:	A whirlpool in the ground, 50 feet wide +5 ft./2 levels and 40 feet deep +5 feet/2 levels
Duration:	1 round/level
Saving Throw:	Will negates, Reflex negates, Reflex partial, or Fortitude partial, (see text)
Spell Resistance:	No

Holding the god's holy symbol aloft, you call upon the name of Veles to blend the elements of earth and water together. Several seconds later, the ground begins to writhe and churn beneath your foes, who can only stare slack-jawed in utter disbelief as a whirlpool opens up directly beneath them - on solid ground - and proceeds to grind them to a lifeless pulp.

This utterly bizarre spell temporarily erases the distinctions between earth and water in a highly localized region of space, causing a whirlpool to form in the ground. Yes, you read that right. A whirlpool. In the ground. (You can cast this spell on water, too, if you want an old-fashioned ordinary whirlpool.)

If cast on water, this spell forms a rather ordinary whirlpool. This acts just like the vortex ability of a water elemental (size equivalent to the area determined by your caster level), with your caster-level substituting for all level-dependent variables except for DC, which is replaced with the spell's save DC (unless you have a feat such as Dynamic Potential that lets you substitute an HD-based DC for a spell's DC). However, the whirlpool cannot move from where you cast it, nor can it voluntarily release creatures until the spell ends.

If cast on land, this spell shows its real power. When you finish casting, the ground suddenly buckles and softens, and a small sinkhole (about 10 feet wide and 15 feet deep) opens up where you cast the spell. The sinkhole then instantly collapses in on itself and collapses into a whirlpool. Creatures who witness this happening (except for you), including any caught in the area of the whirlpool, must succeed on a Will save or be stunned for one round in utter astonishment, disbelief, and befuddlement, able to do nothing but try to figure out how the **** this is even possible. (Creatures who have witnessed a casting of Veles swirl on land before get a +2 bonus on the Will save, which increases by a further +2 every time they see the spell again. It's mindbreakingly bizarre the first time you see it, but by the third or so time, you're so used to it that it hardly fazes you, and you may very well have figured out how it works.) The stun is a [Mind-Affecting] effect, and furthermore, creatures with 2 or less Intelligence (that is, animal-level intelligence (or no intelligence at all)) are completely immune to the spell's potential stunning effect (they just can't comprehend cosmic mysteries at all, so anything out of the ordinary doesn't really disturb them). Furthermore, a Knowledge (religion) or Spellcraft skill check may be substituted for the Will save by figuring out how the spell works (which absolves a creature from ever having to make a Will save against this spell again), but attempting a Knowledge (religion) check adds 12 to the spell DC, and attempting a Spellcraft check adds 16 to the spell DC (in both cases for that check only, not for any subsequent saves or checks in the whirlpool - see below). These checks get the same bonus from seeing the spell multiple times as the Will save. You may only attempt one save or check to resist being stunned by the strangeness of this spell, and as always, a Knowledge or Spellcraft check can't be attempted without any ranks in the relevant skill.

On the round that the whirlpool opens, all creatures caught in the area must succeed on a Reflex save to sprint away from the collapsing ground before the whirlpool fully forms. A creature that succeeds must escape from the spell's area on its next turn, using any means available to it (move actions, running, spellcasting, etc.), or else it gets stuck in the whirlpool regardless (though it may be further from the center than it otherwise would have been... or, it may be closer, since it doesn't necessarily know where you're casting the spell). A Balance check (DC = the spell DC + 80) can enable a creature that failed its Reflex save (or didn't manage to get out within 1 round) to remain upright and continue running out of the whirlpool, moving as normal, but the check must be repeated each round, and failure at any point causes the creature to fall prone and become stuck. (Of course, a creature that can actually succeed on a DC 90+ check for any skill is probably able to fly somehow, and doesn't even need to worry about this spell in the first place.) Creatures unable to move (including as a result of being stunned by this spell) aren't even able to attempt the Reflex save or Balance check. Creatures that fail the Reflex save and Balance check fall prone and are caught up in the whirlpool, taking 1d6 + your spellcasting modifier (Intelligence for wizards, Widsom for clerics and druids, Charisma for sorcerers) points of nonlethal damage (which can bypass damage reduction as though it were magic and bludgeoning) each round they are stuck in there. Victims are unable to move using any of their listed speeds - they cannot take move actions to move, nor may they run, charge, withdraw, take 5-foot steps, or take any other action that involves standing up, leaving the ground, or leaving their square (except for casting certain spells, such as teleport or dimension door, assuming that they can succeed on a Concentration check to cast the spell). Attempting to cast or concentrate on a spell while in the whirlpool requires a Concentration check against a DC equal to 10 + spell level of the spell being cast + ½ of the previous damage taken, or else the spell fails and is wasted. Creatures caught in the whirlpool are allowed to make a Climb, Swim, Tumble, or Escape Artist check or Reflex save against the spell's DC as a full-round action to scramble out of the whirlpool. Creatures that fail on a check or save get dragged 5 feet towards the whirlpool's center, plus an additional 5 feet for every 5 points by which they failed the save (a failure of 5-9 would drag a creature 10 feet towards the whirlpool's center, a failure of 10-14 would drag a creature 15 feet towards the whirlpool's center, and so on and so forth). A success on the check/save allows the creature to hold its current position, or advance 5 feet towards the edge of the whirlpool for every 5 points by which it beat the DC. Swim and Climb skill checks take a -4 penalty unless the creature in question has a listed speed for that movement mode (in which case it still can't take 10, even if its description specifically states that it can take 10 even if rushed or threatened, unless it has something other than a swim/climb speed that would enable it to take 10 in a stressful situation), while Reflex saves and Tumble checks take a -6 penalty and Escape Artist checks take a -8 penalty (frantic squirming generally doesn't help anything other than a snake or worm crawl up a landslide, while escaping by tumbling or sheer reflexes requires a character to pull off gymnastics like the sort seen in the opening to Sonic CD). A creature that does not try to scramble out of the whirlpool is automatically assumed to have rolled its lowest possible result on the check/save with the lowest modifier, and is dragged the appropriate distance towards the whirlpool's center.

A creature that winds up in the whirlpool's center is in big trouble - the swirling, churning land around it proceeds to grind it to a pulp. The hapless creature stops taking nonlethal damage, instead taking 3× that amount as lethal damage per round (treat this as the spell scoring a critical hit with a ×3 damage multiplier). The lethal damage is considered to be piercing, slashing, bludgeoning, and magic, so damage reduction bypassed by any of those damage types doesn't help a creature withstand the damage. The center of the whirlpool also damages the victim's armor, with the armor taking damage equal to ½ of what its wearer takes (though its hardness, being effectively equivalent to damage reduction bypassed by adamantine, does reduce the damage it takes unless you used adamantine ore as a material component (see below)). The creature may continue attempting saves or checks to clamber out as described above, but the DC is increased by 10, as the victim is subjected to the full force of the whirlpool's pull.

Regardless of whether the spell was cast on water or on land, Veles whirl only lasts for one round per caster level. When it ends (including if it's dispelled), the magic fails slowly; the whirlpool slows down and stops over the course of 5 rounds, with each round of slowdown reducing the damage by 1/5 and reducing the DC to escape by 4 (these reductions are cumulative, maximizing at 4/5 less damage and a -20 reduction to the DC 4 rounds after the spell's duration expires). At the fifth round, the spell ends completely. For the water version, the waters calm down, as if a whirlpool was never there to begin with, and creatures that were still stuck in the whirlpool are now free to act. For the land version, the whirlpool collapses in on itself yet again, and the land rises up and folds in on itself to return to its original proportions. What happens to creatures at this point depends on what "zone" of the whirlpool they're in, these zones defined by distance from the center. Creatures whose distance from the center is greater than 4/5 of the whirlpool's radius (1/5 from the edge) are completely released, free to act normally on their next turn. Creatures whose distance from the center is less than 4/5 but greater than 3/5 of the whirlpool's radius are buried up to their ankles, taking 1d8−3 points of nonlethal magic bludgeoning damage and becoming rooted to their square; such a creature is unable to move from its square until it succeeds on a DC 10 Strength check or DC 15 Escape Artist check (or uses a spell such as teleport or dimension door to change its position in space), but it can still take any actions that don't involve moving from its square, still has its Dexterity bonus to AC (albeit with a -2 penalty to Dexterity), is still able to make Reflex saves (albeit at a -1 penalty), and is not considered prone or helpless. Creatures whose distance from the center is less than 3/5 but greater than 2/5 of the whirlpool's radius are buried up to their waist, taking 1d8 points of nonlethal magic bludgeoning damage and 1d8−1 points of lethal magic bludgeoning damage and becoming rooted to their square; such a creature cannot take any actions involving the use of its legs until it succeeds on a DC 14 Strength check or a DC 20 Escape Artist check to pull itself free as a full-round action (provoking attacks of opportunity), and also loses its Dexterity bonus to AC, takes a -8 penalty to Reflex saves, and loses the benefits of evasion and improved evasion until it frees itself (it's also considered "half-prone", taking a -2 penalty to melee AC and gaining a +2 bonus to ranged AC, and it is not considered helpless.) Creatures whose distance from the center is less than 2/5 but greater than 1/5 of the whirlpool's radius take 3d8+1 magic bludgeoning damage and are buried up to their necks; they cannot take any actions that are not purely mental and cannot make attacks of opportunity until they dig themselves out (see "Cave-Ins" and earthquake for details), and are considered prone and helpless (-4 melee AC, +4 ranged AC, loses Dexterity bonus to AC, can't make Reflex saves). Creatures whose distance from the center is less than 1/5 of the whirlpool's radius, but are not actually in the center, take 4d8+3 magic bludgeoning damage and are completely buried a distance beneath the surface equal to ¾ of the whirlpool's depth (see "Cave-Ins" and earthquake for details). Creatures in the center get viciously ground up by the earth closing in on itself; they must succeed on a Fortitude save or die instantly, as if caught in a fissure at the end of an earthquake spell. A creature that succeeds on this Fortitude save still takes 5d8+5 points of magic bludgeoning damage and is buried in the ground, its distance from the surface equal to the depth of the whirlpool (see "Cave-Ins" and earthquake for details). These descriptions of burial assume that the sizes of the victims range from Small to Large; for anything smaller or larger, the DM may alter degrees of burial (and their consequences) as he deems fit.

If the whirlpool ends up within an antimagic field, it halts immediately, but a land-based whirlpool doesn't collapse in on itself as described above. The whirlpool (of either kind) immediately resumes if it still has part of its duration remaining when the antimagic field goes away. If not, a water-based whirlpool simply doesn't reappear, while a land-based whirlpool immediately collapses in on itself as described above.

A land-based whirlpool can be made with this spell on any solid surface, even one suspended in midair that isn't thick enough to support the whirlpool's depth (such as a wooden balcony in the canopy of a forest). In such a case, the spell still works exactly as described above, with the exception of what happens when it ends. The DCs to extricate oneself from partial burial are reduced by up to 5 (depending on the platform's thickness), a creature buried up to its neck may wind up partially dangling in the air (I'll leave it up to the DM to determine what happens because of that, but I'm sure it'll be utterly hilarious to any onlookers), and any creature that would be "buried" in midair will wind up, well, "buried" in midair - if it can't fly, then it'll fall instead (taking the appropriate amount of falling damage upon impact with the solid surface beneath it). However, a creature being "buried" in midair is also assumed to have made its Fortitude save to avoid being instantly killed, as there was no ground available to smash it to death in the first place. The sight of a whirlpool being formed on a high-up platform not thick enough to support it is even more absurd than the sight of the same whirlpool being formed in solid ground, and so the DM may decide to apply a circumstance bonus to increase the Will save (or substitute skill check) DC.

Casting Veles whirl is difficult on the Inner Planes. It may function on the Elemental Plane of Earth if you succeed on a DC 24 Spellcraft check (since only one of its two elements is naturally present). It also may function on the Elemental Plane of Water with a DC 20 Spellcraft check (it's easier to cast it without earth than it is without water). However, no Spellcraft check result can allow Veles whirl to function on the Elemental Plane of Fire, the Elemental Plane of Air, or any other strongly air-dominant or fire-dominant plane, due to an opposing element reigning supreme. It only works on the Positive Energy Plane if you can succeed on a DC 28 Spellcraft check, as water and earth are both scarcely present; however, as the space of the Positive Energy plane behaves in many ways like a liquid, you can cast Veles whirl at basically any point in space (and you may bewilder anyone who watches this happen). The same is true for the Negative Energy Plane, but you actually need to find a solid or liquid surface to cast it on (even a voidstone will suffice, though that may well break the mind of anyone who sees it).

Casting Veles whirl on the Outer Planes is just like casting it on the Material Plane, with the exception of regions that are strongly element-dominant. Water-dominant areas are treated like the Elemental Plane of Water. Earth-dominant areas are treated like the Elemental Plane of Earth. Air-dominant areas are treated like the Elemental Plane of Air. Fire-dominant areas are treated like the Elemental Plane of Fire. Positive-dominant areas are treated like the Positive Energy Plane (except that you may actually need to find a solid or liquid surface). Negative-dominant areas are treated like the Negative Energy Plane

Though this spell refers to Veles, Slavic god of water and earth, you may substitute whatever god is most appropriate for your campaign. Change the name of the spell accordingly. Whichever deity you choose to associate this spell with, it is only available to worshippers of that deity.

Material Component: A chunk of adamantine, cold iron, or alchemical silver ore worth at least 100 gp, or a chunk of matter taken from a strongly-aligned Outer Plane (such as Mechanus, Limbo, Hades, or Elysium). Note that you may use any number of these material components, and all of them are completely optional. The purpose of providing a material component for this spell is to enable the (land-based) whirlpool to bypass the corresponding type of damage reduction.

Focus: A silver holy symbol of Veles costing 3,000 gp. For a cleric or druid, this holy symbol can be the same divine focus used to cast your other spells, but it must be made of silver and cost at least 3,000 gp in order to cast Veles whirl.

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