Mundane Magic
While the incredible feats of arcane skill and finesse being performed by adventurers everywhere certainly looks impressive, such spells and abilities are far too flashy and costly for use on the home front. Where are the spells for measles and mumps and counting coin and filling a mug with mead? Who is casting these spells? Why am i asking so many questions?
This collection of spells are for use by everyday magic users; those town wizards, those temple priests, those who stumbled upon Kovlak's Tome of Magical Terms, who lack the will or need to pursue a life of adventuring. While not as powerful, or flashy, or useful as some of the spells featured in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons, these spells are nevertheless, useful in everyday life to solve small, everyday problems.
A fundamental question one must ask oneself in worldbuilding is: How do the denizens of this world solve problems that exist in our world? In other words, what is this society's solution to a problem we have solved in our own world? If they have spells that cast light, just as we have invented the light bulb, why not a spell with the singular purpose of stopping a cut from bleeding, or blunting the edge of a sparring sword, or counting the amount of coins in a bag, just as we have invented ways of doing so in our non-magical world.
These spells have no levels; they are not even cantrips. They don't even have a designated class restriction; they are so simple, any creature with a drop of magic in them can cast them. It is imagined that all magic-users; even half-casters and casting sub-classes; have at some point learned at least one of these spells, possibly while training or possibly just because they required its use often enough. Even non-magical creatures can purchase and perform these spells through the use of single-use scrolls, or another magical device that casts a single spell multiple times(see sidebar). They can also be purchased as strips of paper with notes attached, and can be learned by studying these notes for at least an hour, including practice time. These notes can be bought from wizards or magical item shops for 1sp per spell. Once the spell is learned in this way, the learner can perform it whenever they choose, with no action or spell slot required. Player characters can learn these spells if they wish, but they must understand that they are situational and fit best when used by small town npc casters, and other characters that don't have or can't afford access to greater magic. All these spells have a range of touch unless otherwise specified.
Magical Devices
If you wish, you may choose to place these optional magic items into your world. They are so insignificant and common, they are rated below common magical items and fall under equipment. Each item costs 10 gp each and can perform one of the spells listed in this collection. It can perform it as many times as is needed, but it can only ever perform that one spell. Even a character with no spellcasting abilities whatsoever can use the item. It does not require attunement. The appearance of the item can be of your choosing. For example, an object that performs the Calculate spell may take the form of a short, flat rod that, when pressed against the formula at one end, projects the answer from the other end.
Tomes of Convenience
Rather than treat these as individual spells, a high magic game may contain tomes and books full of these spells, serving as collections of the spells with similar purposes. A character can cast any of the spells listed, requiring no action or spell slot whatsoever, as long as the book is on their person and they have read through it at least once. Reading through a Tome of Convenience and learning to perform the spells takes about 1 day total, to physically read the scripture but also to understand its content and practice its motions and mentally make a magical connection. This can be split up over multiple days, such as the character reading when they are taking a rest. The books can be purchased from general stores or magical item shops, or perhaps from wizards along with spell scrolls or spell components, for a price of 50gp per book.
Tome of the Everyman: Contains the spells listed in the Day-to-Day Life section. It's a small, easily carried tome, bound with parchment and held together by folding. It has easily legible text.
Opus of Medicine: Contains the spells listed in the Medicinal section. It has the appearance of a collecting of medical notes, with various diagrams and anatomical drawings. It has a large, red cross on the first page.
Wartime Manual: Contains the spells listed in the Military Spells section. It has the appearance of a plain, leather bound tome with a small ribbon attached at one end for bookmarking. It can be fastened closed with a small clasp.
Book of Service: Contains the spells listed in the Service section. It appears to be a volume of neatly written notes, bound on the spine with simple wood and covered in waterproofing material.
Medicinal
These spells might be seen being used by small time priests and annointers, or any cleric-in-training at a temple, or any other fitting place of healing. However, these spells dont regain hit points or cure conditions, or accelerate the natural healing process in any way.
Bandage
Abjuration
You touch a non-lethal wound such cause it to stop bleeding, or keep a larger wound from bleeding as long as you keep up your concentration(as if you were concentrating on a spell).
Family Planning
Divination
You touch the stomach of a willing female humanoid, and divine the status of her fertility, such as her current ovulation cycle state and her most fertile time of the month. You determine if she is pregnant, and the gender of the child should she be, as well as an estimated birthdate and astrological sign.
Cure Minor Wounds
Abjuration
You painlessly cure some small ailment, such as a boil or sore, or close a small wound, such as a minor cut or scrape.
Anesthesize
Enchantment
You touch a creature that is feeling physical pain from some non-magical affliction or injury and stifle the unwanted sensation, dulling it but not erasing it. This has no effect on emotional pain.
Ease of Rest
Enchantment
Touching a willing creature lightly on the temples, you ease them into a gentle state of rest, allowing them to peacefully drift to sleep naturally.
Excise
Evocation
You touch an unwanted foreign body in a creature, and magicaly remove it without damaging the surrounding tissues. You must directly touch the foreign body, and so must cut or otherwise open up the creature to access it.
Diagnose
Divination
You divine the current affliction causing discomfort to a creature, be it an injury(external or internal), physical ailment(poisoning, exhaustion, hangover), or some other affliction(disease or other illness). You know the precise nature and origin of the ailment, as well as what treatment may work best.
Treat Minor Disease
Abjuration
You assist the immune system of a creature in fighting off a mundane illness that afflicts them, such as a cold, cough, or other small, systemic disease.
Stabilize
Necromancy
You touch a creature suffering from a systemic shock, such as hypothermia, anaphlacitc shock, or other affliction that is causing them undue stress and threatening greater damage. The effect lessens, giving the patient more time to recieve more intensive treatment
Conjure Nurse
Conjuration
The minor cares and worries of a creature undergoing medical treatment, such as cleaning bedsheets, bringing food, and changing soiled clothes or bandages, are carried out by an invisible magical servant. The servant cannot perform any task other than what would be required for the care of the patient, has no attacks and no hit points, and ceases to exists if it exits the building or premises it was summoned in.
Medicinalize
Transmutation
You touch a small bottle or vial of mundane liquid, such as water, and transform it into a magical potion, the effects of which hinder or cure the progress of a minor illness or disease.
Clean Waste
Conjuration
You assist a creature in evacuating its body of waste, making it disappear entirely. Where it goes, nobody knows.
Contraception
Transmutation
You lightly touch a willing creature, temporarily sterilizing them and freeing them from the pressure of a possible unwanted child. This change lasts for up to 10 minutes and ends if you are ever more than 5 feet away from the creature. You can target yourself with the spell, if you wish.
Monitor
Divination
You designate a willing creature by touching them. From then on, whenever you come within 5 feet of the designated creature, you immediately gain knowledge on their life signs and vitals, including their heartbeat, breath rate, and body temperature. If the creature ever moves more than 100 feet away from the location this spell is cast, it ends.
Day-to-Day Life
There are a number of minute, everyday problems that can be solved with magic. Here are just a few of the myriad of possible solutions to those issues.
Stenography
Transmutation
You magically bewitch a quill, ink pen, lump of charcoal, or other writing implement to levitate in the air above a patch of parchment or paper. The quill writes down everything that is said exactly as it is said, for up to 2 people. The writing implement refills its self with ink when necessary, and turns the page of parchment when it is required. It can fill as many pages as it is given, and cannot fetch more paper once it is full. This transcript cannot be changed or tampered with.
Coin-count
Divination
Holding a bag, pouch, or other container that you can hold in one hand that is full of money, you instantly divine the precise number, type, and worth of each type of currency inside.
Amplify
Evocation
You increase the sound of your voice to be heard over a crowd, or over large distances. Useful for making speeches and announcements.
Whisper
Evocation
Choose one other creature within 1 foot of you. While you are within one foot and conversing exclusively with that creature, anything you say can be heard by only you and that creature, even if a creature would otherwise be close enough to hear.
Calculate
Divination
Writing a relatively simple mathematical expression on a piece of paper or parchment, you touch the equation with your finger and instantly learn the solution, as well as the steps to determining it.
Swindler's Bane
Divination
You instantly learn if a specific object has been tampered with, or if a particular object is biased to a specific outcome. You also learn if a creature within 5 feet of you has used sleight of hand in the last minute.
Encouragement
Enchantment
You magically push a creature to pursue an action they wish to perform, but are otherwise too nervous or scared to do. The creature still has free will on whether or not they perform the action, but they are now less nervous about undertaking it.
Whistle
Divination
Naming and imagining a lost object in mind, if the object is within the room you are in it will emit a loud, high-pitched chirp. The object will repeat the chirp every few seconds until it is found.
Lock and Key
Transmutation
Placing a key into a lock and turning it, you magically bind the key to yourself. The key disappears, and you can unlock the lock by placing your hand over it. The effect ends if the lock is ever destroyed or if it is ever moved from its original location/place of installation
Playthings of Primus
Conjuration
Choose one:
Coin: You conjure an ethereal coin that flips with cosmic fairness; perfect 50/50, that flips after you or another willing creature within 5 feet of you designate Heads or Tails. The heads side of the coin depicts the side profile of Primus, while the tails side portrays the massive gears of Mechanus.
Dice: You conjure an ethereal pair of 6 sided dice that roll with perfect fairness; you can use your action to have the dice roll themselves in the air, displaying their total above them in ethereal numeric symbols. The dice dont have pips; rather, each side depicts a modron of that level, with the 6th side depicting Primus in profile.
Shuffle: You summon an ethereal deck of playing cards, which is magically bound to fairness; any attempt to use sleight of hand or trickery to alter its structure and outcome is foiled, and the deck magically shuffles itself with perfect randomness. The card backs depict the massive turning gears of mechanus.
Breeze
Evocation
You cause the air around you to stir, creating a light breeze that keeps you and up to 3 other creatures cool. It can't push any objects.
Proofread
Divination
While reading a work of writing, you cause any grammatical or spelling errors to glow faintly, and instantly learn the proper terminology and/or spelling. This does not check for truth or fact check, only grammar.
Undo
Transmutation
You can erase up to 1 page of a work of writing created by you within the last minute, or replace a single word with any other word of similar length without requiring ink.
Military Spells
These are spells that members of a militia or guard might use in everyday life; things to clean and maintain their armor and weapons, spells for use when sparring or training, and spells for use by law enforcement.
Training Arrows
Evocation
A quiver of 50 incorporeal arrows appear on your back. These arrows do no damage to anything, and disappear once removed from their target.
Sparring Sword
Transmutation
Blunting the edge of a weapon, you make it harmless for use in training. The weapon now deals no damage until you end the effect. You must be touching a weapon that deals slashing or piercing damage held by a willing creature or this spell fails.
Whetstone
Transmutation
You magically re-hone the edge on a sword, or repair the chipped/splintered face on a blunt weapon.
Protection from Chafing
Abjuration
You remove the abrasions and discomfort created by wearing armor that chafes or scratches. If you are wearing armor when you cast this spell, it fails.
Tally
Illusion
You designate two creatures within 10 feet of each other and within 30 feet of you. When one creature hits the other with an attack, the attacking creature glows brightly for a second, and an incorpereal numeral appears above their head. The number depicts the number of attacks landed for this casting of the spell. If the creatures ever move more than 20 feet away from each other, or more than 30 feet away from you, the spell ends and the tally dissapears.
Guide
Divination
You gain instantaneous knowledge on which direction is north, what time of day it is, and the current date by the calendar you are most familiar with. This spell fails if you are in a location with no magnetic north, if you are in a location specifically designed to hinder navigation such as a magical maze or labrinth, or if you are in a place with no time of day.
Recognition
Divination
You instantly gain information on the military rank and achievements of a creature you can see within 20 feet of you.
Call to Aid
Enchantment
You telepathically call out for medical attention. All creatures within 120 feet of you that have a healing spell and can cast it currently are alerted to your location, and to the fact that you require aid.
Homesick
Divination
You hold a totem in hand, and gain insight into the actions of a particular willing creature. The totem must be gifted to you by the creature, and must have sentimental value to them or both of you. When you use this spell, the creature knows that you are thinking of it.
Trophy
Illusion
You hold in your hands a trinket from a slain enemy, and recall the memories of the fight vividly in your mind.
Keepsake
Illusion
You hold in your hands a trinket taken from a slain ally or friend, and recall memories of their life and death vividly in your mind.
Supress the Horror
Enchantment
You suppress the memory of one horrible event that has happened to you, preventing you from thinking about it absentmindedly. If someone mentions it directly or asks you about it, you remember it. If you try to cast this spell again on a different memory, its effect end on the current memory.
Magical Map
Illusion
Pointing to a location on a map, as long as you have visited that location at least once before you can project into the air above it an image of what it looked like the most recent time you visited the location.
Arrest
Enchantment
You magically lock the wrists of a creature together, either behind them or in front of them. The creature can escape if they succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity(Sleight of Hand) check.
Call to Authority
Enchantment
Designating a creature as your captain the first time you cast this spell, you can instantly alert them to your present position and convey a simple message: Assistance, Backup, or Emergency. You can change your captain by casting this spell again.
Service Spells
Sometimes, just good staff isnt enough. Sometimes, you just need a little magical assistance to make your home or establishment the best it can be. These spells are ideal for taverns, pubs, inns, and shops. They are also useful at home, for housekeepers and other domestic servants like maids and cooks.
Play/Record
Evocation
Choose one:
Record: You play an instrument while casting this spell, storing the song onto the instrument.
Play: You let go of the instrument in the air, and it floats there playing it's recorded song. A single instrument can store up to 1 hour of music, and can coordinate with other instruments of different types playing the same song. You can only have one song stored on an instrument.
Ticket Taker
Conjuration
You conjure a spectral servant to take orders for you. The servant cannot move from the location you cast them, and remembers everything that is said to it. It can repeat it back to you at any time.
Refill
Transmutation
You touch a bottle of liquor or some other non-magical liquid and a mug or cup at the same time. The cup magically fills with the liquid, draining the bottle at the same time. Whenever the cup is drank from, it magically refills from the bottle. When the bottle runs dry, you can transfer the effects of the spell to another bottle, or end the spell.
Honest Pay
Divination
You determine the approximate worth of a small mundane item, honest regardless of appearances. If someone paints a lump of coal to look like gold, the spell knows that it is such. However, if someone transmutes the gold or uses an illusion to mask its true nature, the spell is fooled by it.
Bookkeeping
Transmutation
You sort a stack of papers or a shelf of books into an orderly fashion, such as alphabetization.
Reciept
Conjuration
You create a small bill of sale for a minor transaction made within the past minute.
Agitate
Transmutation
You cause a pot or similar container full of liquid to stir itself.
Anti-Thief
Evocation
When you cast this spell, specify a doorway, arch, window, or other threshold into a building or room. If a creature leaves the premises and they are carrying or have equipped an item that was on sale in those premises, and they did not pay for it, a loud booming chirp is heard, alerting all within 200ft. This spell can be successfully disabled by succeeding on a DC 10 Dexterity(Stealth) check.
Barback
Conjuration
You enchant cups, mugs, classes, bottles, and any other number of small, mundane objects to gently fly over to you when called, as long as they are within 10 feet of you.
Inventory
Divination
Looking at a room that you own, you instantly discern the precise amount and nature of its contents. From then on, whenever an object is removed or tampered with in the room, you are alerted to the fact that something has changed, but you don't know what until you inspect the room.
Cut Off
Illusion
You give water or a similar liquid the taste and smell of alchohol, with none of the effects of liquor. Useful for patrons who have had too much and still demand more.
Fantasia
Conjuration
You magically enchant up to 3 different cleaning utensils to carry out their work independently, without the need for a user. Brooms levitate upright and sweep, rags clean and dry glasses, and dusters furiously swish back and forth atop dusty surfaces. The objects cannot think for themselves or defend themselves in any way. They can be told what or where to clean but must be told to do so.
Flavor
Conjuration
Sprinkling your fingers over a food or beverage, you magically summon a pinch of any spice you wish. You can summon up to 3 different spices with a single casting of this spell.
Price Check
Divination
Choose one:
Assign: You magically assign a price to an item. You instinctively know this number, and can never forget it by non-magical means.
Recall: You instantly recall the price of an item you have assigned a price to with this spell
Farming Spells
Farming is hard, backbreaking, and repetitive work. Farmers and other agricultural workers deserve all the help they can get; these spells are designed to help agricultural workers with their everyday labor, and are typically found on the farm, or in the notes of a druid seeking to assist a town during a famine or blight.
Seed
Conjuration
You place 4 sigils onto tilled earth or loose soil. Placing a bag of seeds at one of the sigils, you whisper a small incantation. The seeds are teleported below the ground in the area formed by the 4 sigils. You specify the density, pattern, and depth of the seeds when you cast this spell. If there are not enough seeds in the bag to cover the specified area, the spell fails.
Till
Transmutation
You magically plow and till a 1 foot cube of soil or loose earth. You must be touching the ground to cast this spell.
Livestockkeeping
Divination
You instinctively know the amount and condition of a herd of livestock creatures that you own. Furthermore, you can touch any pregnant livestock creature and determine the approximate properties of it's offspring; who the parents are, the gender of the child, its relative health, its value as an animal.
Brand
Transmutation
You touch your hand to a non-humanoid creature that you own and magically brand it with an arcane sigil. The sigil can depict anything you like but can't be larger than 1 foot in any dimension. When the spell is finished casting, the sigil dissapears, but you can make it appear again by touching the creature again.
Harvest
Conjuration
You place 4 sigils onto the ground, surrounding an area of crops. You then magically teleport any part of the plants to one of the sigils. For example, you can teleport the roots of a carrot plant or the ears off a corn stalk, or the fruit off of a vine. If there is a sack or container placed there, the harvest is teleported inside. You can also specify a different sigil to send an unwanted part of the plant, such as inedible leaves or branches.
Preserve
Transmutation