With this blog post we have reached the halfway point of the path focuses. This week we are looking at a second elemental path, the Glacial path. While the name implies ice magic, it encompasses all water magics. The Glacial path also can cover certain forms of mind affecting magic, for this path spells that deaden emotions and provide resistance to other forms of mind affects.
The first spell we will look at today is Frostwind, a simple, easy to cast damage spell with a 20 meter range that also makes the target pass a constitution test or lose their reaction. Losing reactions or other actions is a fairly standard side effect of glacial path damage spells. This makes this spell good to pair with an ally making further attacks on the target, which now cannot be blocked, parried or dodged. Upgraded versions would do more damage, and either increase the difficulty of the test to avoid losing an action or cause the loss of multiple actions.
Next we have Path of Ice, which coats 10 meters squared of ground in ice forcing anyone on the ice to either move slowly or risk falling. This makes it useful for crowd control or buying time for the caster and their allies to react to something. It probably also has other creative uses a crafty caster could find. Normally it is cast on the ground but it could be cast on a wall or other vertical surface. Higher tier versions of this spell could expand the area, slow movement more, increase the chance of falling and/or add further penalties if you fall, such as damage or debuffs.
The third tier 1 spell is Slow the Bodily Functions, which automatically stabilizes any dying creature the caster is touching. Because most mages have no skill in the path of life, they have to find other ways to achieve healing and protection. While this doesn’t provide healing, it is better than no ability to do anything. The spell cannot Enhanced versions of this spell would function at range, or provide an aura around the caster than do it automatically.
Now we move into tier 2 with Chili Time, a ten meter ranged spell that forces the target to make checks for doing anything at more than half speed, failing causing that action to just not happen. It is really effective at reducing the power of anyone who is not physically inclined. Tier 3 versions of this could add other debuffs, increase the time the effect lasts for, or increase the difficulty of the check.
Waterform is not a combat spell but adds some interesting flexibility to the caster. With quick casting time, and average difficulty, it makes is easy for the caster to make an unexpected get away when things don’t go according to plan, or let them get into places that a person cannot walk into. Effectively it turns the caster and everything he is carrying into water that the caster can control the direction it moves. This is great for an opponent of the party that you want to survive at least their first encounter with the players and will provide a memorable fight when they think they have won and poof, the boss turns to water and escapes to fight another day. In my experience as much as players dislike someone escaping in the moment, they like having recurring foes that they can dislike and scheme against for multiple sessions. A tier 3 version of this would last longer or allow the caster to use it on someone else.
At tier 3 we have a summoning spell, variations of which you can find in every path, Summon Ice Elemental. All the elemental summoning spells exist at tier 2 for lesser elementals and tier 3 for standard. Every elemental has its own benefits and disadvantages, but can significantly shift combat when it shows up. Summoning them is not a fast process though, so doing it in the middle of combat is asking for the other side to try to disrupt the casting. Like all elementals, Ice Elementals have access to their own spells, cause fear and are immune to harmful glacial path magic but they are extremely vulnerable to path of living fire magic.
For hybrid spells, we first have Crystalline Companion, which animates a chunk of ice, up to 50 kilograms worth for a few minutes. It also uses path of life magic. It gives a cheap, disposable yet mobile block that can distract and defend the caster and their allies. Far faster to cast than Summon Elemental, it is more responsive than that tier 3 spell. A tier 3 version could have better stats, last longer, or transform more ice.
The last spell we will look at is Chill of the Grave, a hybrid with path of death. With a 10 meter range, it prevents the target from receiving any healing for 1 minute and with a failed check also increases the difficulty of all checks for that time. It is not hard to see the implications of this spell to someone actively fighting. It is difficult but quick to cast. A tier 3 version of this spell could increase the time the spell lasts, increase the difficulty of checks or add some other effect such as dealing damage to the target.
The path focus for the glacial path is less obviously powerful than some others like the path of death, but can be very effective at the right times. It lets the caster walk across any liquid that is standard outside temperature, which mainly means water but could be other things. Not always useful, but in the right situations it allows glacial path casters powerful advantages.
Which spell was your favorite? What would you do with the Glacial Path? Which path do you want me to look at next? Come back next week as I look at the military of the Kingdom of Lothran, the youngest kingdom of Gal Hadre.
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