Minor Spells

Reading SilentBelle's thread on treasure and items and his mention of potions got me thinking about some of the minor magical effects we see in the show that move the plot forwards for an episode but aren't really seen again. It seems like Twilight's always finding spells in books that somepony created in the past. Examples: the cloud-walking and wing spells from Sonic Rainboom, the apple-to-carriage spell in Best Night Ever, the time-travel spell in It's About Time, and even the gem-finding spell she learned from Rarity in A Dog and Pony Show.

Most of these spells, while neat, aren't really the kind of thing you'd want to burn a utility talent slot on. So what if they were implemented in another way? Many RPG's have simple single-or-limited-use items that give access to magical effects separate from what characters already know. Why couldn't Equestria have something similar?

The idea behind these spells is that they provide effects that may be useful to the plot of a game, but are too specific to warrant being utility talents. They could be scrolls, they could be found in books, they could be magic items, they could be spells an NPC reveals or uses – however the GM decides to use them (hence why I'm just calling them generic "spells"). I'm merely coming up with ideas for spells; how or whether they are implemented is ripe for discussion.

Examples:
Spell of Cloud-Walking – Magic
Caster and up to 5 allies gain the ability to walk on clouds like pegasi for 3 days. Clouds are soft enough that colliding with them causes no damage no matter how fast you were traveling. The spell does not grant you any weather-crafting abilities, but you may manipulate and sculpt clouds with a -5 penalty.

Spell of Wing-Formation – Magic
Castor or target ally gains a pair of beautiful butterfly-like wings for 3 days. This gives the target the pegasus racial ability “Flight” for the duration. Given the wings' composition of gossamer and morning dew, being too close to a source of heat (including the Sun) will cause them to burn up, canceling the effect. This spell also grants a +2 bonus to Persuasion as long as the target is non-hostile (+4 if target is a pegasus).

Spell of Transportation-Transmutation – Magic
This spell turns one ordinary item (such as a rock, apple, etc.) into a form of transportation such as a carriage, hot-air balloon, or boat. This transport may hold up to 7 ponies or similarly-sized creatures, is similar in durability to a naturally-created version of the item it is copying and lasts for 1 day before reverting back to its original form.

Spell of Facial-Hair-Forming – Magic
Up to three allies gain either a mustache, beard, or both, of a style and color specified at the casting of the spell (no longer than floor-length, though). These facial accouterments last for 1 day, and provide a +1 bonus to Persuasion when used for disguise.

Spell of Portal-Placement – Magic
Creates a door in a given location that lasts for 1 day. This door is not required to have walls around it, but may expand to fill up to a 10x10 foot area. It may appear as double doors if the caster specifies. It acts like a normal wooden door with a doorknob, and has the same durability as one. It may also be created in a horizontal configuration and serve as a trapdoor.

Spell of Gem-Location – Magic
Caster or target ally gains the At-Will ability to locate the nearest gems within a radius of 50 feet for 6 hours (cool-down of 5 minutes between uses). This works whether the gems are an undisturbed underground deposit or the Crown Jewels; if they're the closest, that's what's located.

Spell of Costume-Creation – Magic
Transforms nearby ordinary objects (leaves, sticks, rocks, etc.) into articles of clothing for up to 6 creatures. This clothing will revert back to its original form after 12 hours, or if removed from the wearer after being worn. This clothing provides no more than minimal protection, but may be used as part of an elaborate disguise. Especially appropriate clothing may provide bonuses to Persuasion at the GM's discretion.

Spell of Water-Breathing – Magic
Caster and up to 5 allies gain the ability to breathe underwater for 1 day. Due to the unfamiliar environment, while underwater all Precision and Horse-Sense checks have a -5 penalty.

Spell of Plant-Growing – Magic
A single target plant experiences a major growth spurt, or a number of plants in a area no more than 500 feet square experience a modest growth spurt. A single seed might grow into a fully developed bush or a young tree, while a sapling might develop into a fully-grown tree. A patch of well-trimmed lawn might grow into a scruffy and over-grown mess, or a hedge of rose bushes might all break into flower simultaneously. This growth is permanent, as if the plant had grown to that size naturally, and takes no more than 5 minutes.

Spell of Stone-Shaping – Magic
Caster becomes able to manipulate and shape stone like pegasi can shape cloud for 15 minutes. The stone remains hard to everypony else, but becomes like a thick fluid for the caster to be molded and shaped. Unfamiliarity with the medium causes a -5 penalty when attempting to create anything more complicated than basic shapes (e.g., a statue), except pegasi who have only a -2 penalty. The stone is not dependent on the spell, and stays in place after the spell wears off.

Spell of Water-Walking – Magic
Caster and up to 5 allies gain the ability to walk on water for 1 day. For the duration of the spell creatures affected by it may choose whether walks acts a solid or a liquid while they touch it (i.e., a pony could walk on water, push through the surface and swim underwater, then come up and climb out onto the surface regardless of any nearby solid object).

Spell of Teleporting – Magic
Caster and up to 5 allies may instantly teleport to a place the caster can see or knows very well (such as a house, workplace, or favorite hangout).

Spell of Communication-Facilitation – Magic
Allows a two-way communications link between caster and target for 5 minutes. The link is audio-visual, and may be seen and heard by other besides the caster and target (like a magic video-chat).


Anyway, what do people think of this idea? I'd especially like to hear from game masters if they think these sound like neat abilities for players to get. You can use them as story devices ("You need to meet a contact in Cloudsdale, but you're all earth ponies? Well I have just the thing!"), as rewards for quests, or even as joke items. Any ideas for new spells or suggestion/balance changes for the ones I came up with are welcome as well.

Isn't this what Witchcraft covers? Though it'd still be neat to actually have a list of examples. Especially if anyone wants to have a game with a limit on Witchcraft to only spells your character has actually learned.

Edit: Though I do support the idea of spell scrolls as treasure.

Hold on, I'll be right back.

As far as I understand the game, all of those can be done by using the "It's Witchcraft" utility talent, which has no limited uses, by beating a set DC (defined by context)

Everything can be done by It's Witchcraft. These just make you not have to beat an insanely high Arcana DC or sink tons of points into it.

Any engineer can theoretically invent and build anything. But doing it from scratch is crazy hard. It helps to find a blueprint. Premade spells are the blueprints.

Sure, these could all be done with It's Witchcraft!. But the specific idea behind them was ideas for magical items (like scrolls) that can be used by every character, not just unicorns. (It's precisely because unicorns are my favorite race at the moment that I tried hard to come up with an idea that wouldn't favor them unduly.)