New Spells: Ice Conjurations
This content can now be found at its most updated version in The Elements and Beyond, a free 246-page compendium that you can download right here, filled with 23 subclasses, 8 spellcasting feats, 134 spells, 213 spell variants, 85 monsters, 30 magic items, 4 races plus 12 new subraces each with racial feats, and even more goodies for both players and DMs!
Links: PDF | D&D Beyond: Encasing Ice, Ice Sculpture
Art Credit: https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=442938
When it comes to ice magic, there’s a lot more to do than just cold damage! Slowing or weakening enemies is a common ability of ice magic, but the most common use in fiction is to simply create a large amount of ice! Despite this, creating lasting ice out of nothing is only achievable in 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons by using the wall of ice spell, leaving few choices for those ice and cold-focused mages that seek to replicate the glacial battlefield tactics of characters like Mr. Freeze, The Ice King, or Frozone. These two spells are intended to help frosty wizards, sorcerers, druids, and more fill that chilly void in their repertoire — or fill a doorway with ice!
The first spell, encasing ice, conjures a contiguous block of ice that can take a small variety of shapes depending on the desires of the caster. This spell can be used as a thick wall to block a passage, as a bridge in dire situations, or as a barrier to surround you and your allies and give you at least a few rounds of respite. Its most common usage, of course, is to trap enemies in the massive block of ice, locking them in place and slowly freezing them to death! Since the cubes can’t be combined to fill a 20-foot cube, the spell can’t be used to paralyze gargantuan creatures such as ancient dragons, krakens, or the tarrasque, and any creature that is paralyzed also has total cover from everything, so it doesn’t provide guaranteed critical hits. But with proper tactics, a group can force a creature to be trapped by the ice even if it can succeed on the saving throw, either by preventing the target from using its reaction or by making the ice impossible for the target to escape using half its speed. That gives the spell some synergy with other ice-based and water-based spells that slow or reposition enemies.
While ice sculpture, the second spell, can’t be used to slay your enemies directly, it has a wealth of appealing uses that make it a valuable utility spell for any mage. Unlike encasing ice, this spell must target an unoccupied location. It functions similarly to creation in many cases, except for a shorter duration and only 2nd-level instead of 5th-level. The most important balancing factor preventing this spell from outshining creation is that no matter what shape the caster chooses, the object must be made of ice. Since so many of the objects one might want to create become less functional or even useless when made out of ice (musical instruments sound wrong, furniture and clothing is solid and icy, anything that must withstand heat will melt, etc.), especially since the spell can’t be used to make complex machinery. That leaves only simple machines and other objects that are useful for their shape alone. While that is restrictive, it still leaves much available. Ice sculpture can fill a doorway with an icy barrier to prevent pursuers from following you. It can be used to create substance for an illusion that doesn’t otherwise affect touch. It can be used to make weapons and armor or even battlefield hazards, such as a spike at the bottom of a pit. And of course, it can always be used to simply create a wondrous and dazzling artistic sculpture made of ice.
As spells that conjure or utilize water (even if it’s frozen into ice), these two spells are both Hydromancy spells, meaning that they appear on the spell list for the Hydromancer feat coming in The Elements & Beyond. Other than the small damage boost and that most of the spellcaster specialization feats provide, the only benefit that encasing ice gains from the Hydromancer feat is the increased casting range. Ice sculpture is low-enough leveled that it can also benefit from the reduced component requirements, enabling a higher-level caster with the feat to cast ice sculpture using only verbal or somatic components.
Links: PDF | D&D Beyond: Encasing Ice, Ice Sculpture
