Curious Objects: Light Sword

No, not this:

I'm talking about that (potentially) massively powerful weapon found in Moldvay's treasure charts; the +1 sword, casts light on command (30' radius).

Bear with me a moment.

If you refer back to my RSA on the Light spell, you can see that the item effect is basically the same. Though it does list the effect as a 30' radius, not diameter like the spell. I'm not sure of that's a typo or deliberate change. Either way it's a fair interpretation that the sword is simply granting this spell-like ability to its wielder. So three things immediately come to mind here:

1. The ability is on command, which means no limit per day.*
2. Light can blind an opponent if cast on their eyes.
3. It's still a magic sword that lets you hit things like wights and lycanthropes.

Following this model gives the user a huge leg up in a fight. Now, you could make the DM ruling that the light can only be centered on the blade as opposed to "targetable," and that would be fair enough, I suppose. Unfortunately there isn't a more detailed write-up of the weapon provided in the book. However, in Cook, there are a couple other weapons with spell like effects which do have some accompanying text. In those cases (charm person and locate objects), the powers are described as per the relevant spells. So that's a point for the original premise.

It's worth noting that even without the blinding ability, a light spell ability that doesn't take up a spell slot is a great resource for a low (Basic) level party.

* The Cook Expert items do include a frequency cap on invoking the powers, but they aren't uniform.

Life imitates art (or game imitates blog, whatever)

We've been playing a fun little crawl designed by one of our group for the upcoming One Page Dungeon Contest. It was also her first time GM-ing. Without giving away too much, we had an encounter with some spitting cobras, and it was pretty close to what I described in the earlier post. As a result, we ended trying to deal with a blind PC for a large portion of the adventure.

I was quite amused.

RSA: Let there be light

Light  spells (continual or otherwise) are not uncommon. I don't know about you, but as soon as my players have the chance, they ditch most of their torches and lanterns for "Continual Light Sticks." I can't say as I blame them. It certainly is less encumbrance and book-keeping. I've previously mentioned in passing how I consider CL a world-changing spell. Or at least, it would be if carried to its logical conclusion.

I didn't want to talk about Continual Light today, though. I wanted to talk about how insanely powerful the plain old 1st level Light spell is in combat. It's to the point where it's the only spell a low-level cleric might consider to replace Cure Light Wounds on their prepared spells (though that's unlikely).

Why is it such a powerful spell? Take a look at the spell description (from Moldvay):

Light Level: 1
Range: 120'
Duration: 12 Turns

This spell casts light in a circle, 30' in diameter. It is bright enough to read by, but not equal to full daylight. It may be cast on an object. The light may be cast at a creature's eyes. The creature may make a saving throw, but if it fails, the victim will be blinded for 12 turns. In the D&D BASIC rules, a blinded creature may not attack. 

(emphasis mine)

So, you've got a 1st level spell with a 120' range (120 yards outdoors!), where a failed save vs. spells means most targets are basically out of the fight and practically helpless. In my campaigns, the player with clerics –lacking offensive spells like Sleep or Magic Missile– absolutely LOVE this spell.

The best part is when the PCs cut off the head and use it as a light source until the spell fades!