Difference between revisions of "Wardmist"

Latest revision as of 16:13, 11 August 2017

The spell creates a wardmist. This is a 40-foot-high, 60-foot-wide band of permanent, milky-white mist that must rest on the ground, floor, or other solid surface. Its boundaries can twist and turn corners as sharply and as often as desired to protect a certain area, and they may exclude whatever areas the caster desires.

A wardmist can always be freely entered or left. Beings entering it are sensed by the spell, which reacts by flashing a radiant or audible warning (or both, as desired) to a specific spot or being. The spot or being is set upon casting, and it cannot be changed thereafter. Warnings classify those who enter the wardmist into two categories: those who bear ward tokens and intruders. Wardmist warnings transmit numbers and general locations of all intruders.

Sight and all known magical and psionic means of scrying do not work through the boundaries of a wardmist. A being in the mist can see through the mist to a distance of about 10 feet in darkness and 40 feet when light is present. One cannot see out of the mist though, even if one is only inches away from its edge.

When visibility is reduced by darkness, intruders in a wardmist who do not use lamps, markers, or other means of proceeding in a straight path will move in a random direction each round of movement in which they fail a secret Intelligence ability check. It is possible to wander, lost, in a wardmist for quite some time.

The caster of a wardmist spell can try to link certain types of magically animated or undead monsters to the ward as it is forming to serve as guardian monsters. When an intruder reaches a certain locale in a wardmist or has been in the mist for a set time, some guardian monsters are teleported to within 20 feet of the intruder.

A wardmist doesn’t seem to exist for a being who carries the proper token. Ward tokens must be made of a certain material, and they must bear a certain rune that is drawn while a secret word is uttered. A being bearing a valid token cannot see or be affected by a wardmist and is not subject to attacks by any guardian monsters linked to the wardmist. An intruder who seizes a valid token from another being, even while in battle with a guardian, is instantly free of such guardian monster attacks.

Note: This version of wardmist originally appeared in the Volo's Guide to All Things Magical from TSR. Its use here is for the purposes of providing context for the campaign only.