Spider Swarm Missile

Evocation [Force]

Level: Sorcerer/Wizard 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets: Up to five creatures, no two of which can be more than 15 ft. apart
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

Upon completion of this spell, writhing masses of spectral black spiders erupt from the caster’s fingertips with horrifying speed. Each spider is no larger than a coin, yet their legs twitch and flex with unsettling realism as they skitter through the air toward their victims. Though formed from magical force rather than true flesh, their fangs drip with luminous green venom that evaporates moments after striking.

This spell functions identically to magic missile except as noted here. The caster creates one spider missile at 1st level, plus one additional spider at every two caster levels beyond 1st (to a maximum of five spiders at 9th level). Each spider unerringly strikes its designated target and vanishes immediately after biting.

Each spider deals 1d4+1 points of force damage. The wounds manifest as venomous bites despite the spell’s force-based nature. Creatures struck often experience a brief burning sensation, localized numbness, or phantom itching for several seconds afterward, though these effects are purely cosmetic and carry no mechanical penalty beyond the damage itself.

Unlike true poison, the venom created by Spider Swarm Missile possesses no lingering toxic effect. The spell’s destructive power is entirely magical force shaped into the illusion of predatory arachnids.

Lore

Among apprentices, this spell is infamous for causing panic disproportionate to its actual lethality. More than one young noble wizard reportedly abandoned formal magical training altogether after witnessing a classmate casually loose a handful of screaming spectral spiders across a lecture hall. Veteran adventurers, by contrast, often find the spell darkly amusing, particularly when used against arrogant duelists unprepared for the deeply undignified spectacle of frantically swatting at imaginary spiders.

The spell first appeared in the marsh academies surrounding Ville des Marais, where hedge mages and swamp witches delighted in reshaping conventional arcane formulas into forms more reflective of local fears and superstitions. Scholars continue to debate whether the spell was intended as practical intimidation, satire of academic wizardry, or merely the result of a deeply eccentric conjurer with far too much free time.

Kelwyn’s Notes

There exists a particular category of magic whose purpose is not merely harm, but humiliation. One may survive a fireball with dignity intact. One may even endure lightning with a degree of stoicism if sufficiently stubborn. Yet there is something profoundly destabilizing about watching fist-sized spiders erupt from empty air and descend upon one’s person with impossible certainty. Civilization teaches people that fear should possess proportion. Spider Swarm Missile exists specifically to mock that assumption.

The remarkable thing is that the spell is, mechanically speaking, almost pedestrian. It is no more destructive than the humble Magic Missile from which it descends. The body suffers little beyond several sharp punctures of force-made venom. The mind, however, proves considerably less resilient. I once observed a hardened mercenary captain leap bodily into a drainage canal while screaming that the spiders had entered his boots. They had not. The illusion of infestation had simply colonized his imagination faster than reason could reclaim it.

One eventually realizes that fear is rarely democratic. Humanity will calmly negotiate with demons, bargain with necromancers, and construct entire cities beside haunted swamps, only to lose all composure when confronted by too many legs moving too quickly. There is a lesson hidden somewhere within that contradiction, though I confess I remain uncertain whether it reflects wisdom or merely the fragile absurdity of being alive.