Skip to content

Primal — Spell & Arts List Draft

Working draft, not locked in. Primal is built on WWN's official Elementalist chassis, structurally outside the formal school system (Elven/druidic tradition — communion, not academy study). Has access to the General list for utility, not full High Magic.

Identity notes

  • Communion vs. study: contrast with Crimson (which took a few Elementalist Arts and reskinned them as artificial Force) is that Primal keeps the actual elemental flavor — real fire, real stone, real water, real wind, not a stand-in energy type.
  • No separate academic elemental tradition exists anymore — only Primal does elemental magic, and it does it the Primal way.
  • Druids are Elves; Elves are Druids. Non-Elf druids exist but answer to Elven authority.

Arts (from the official Elementalist kit — all available as-is, no reskin needed)

  • Elemental Resilience (default, all Primal casters) — Unharmed by mundane cold/heat; half damage from magical or extreme flame/frost.
  • Elemental Sparks (default, all Primal casters) — Conjure minor amounts of flame, water, ice, stone, or wind for small tricks; not a combat or problem-solving tool.
  • Elemental Blast — Ranged elemental attack, Magic skill vs. target, 1d6 + level + attribute mod dmg. (Crimson has a Force-reskinned version of this — Primal's stays genuinely elemental.)
  • Beckoned Deluge — Conjures a large volume of water at range; extinguishes flames, damages fire creatures, hydrates the thirsty.
  • Earthsight — See outlines through earth/stone up to a number of feet equal to level.
  • Flamesight — Thermal vision in darkness; optional self-illumination.
  • Pavis of Elements — +4 AC elemental barrier while Effort committed. (Crimson's Sapper's Ward is a reskin of this — Primal keeps the original.)
  • Petrifying Stare — Target partially petrified, loses Move action for several rounds; grounds fliers, sinks swimmers.
  • Rune of Destruction — Proximity-triggered elemental rune, 2d6 + level dmg in 5-ft radius. (Crimson's Detonation Rune is a reskin of this.)
  • Steps of Air — Flight for a number of rounds equal to level, or negate falling damage.
  • Stunning Shock — Electrical stun requiring conductive metal on target. (Crimson's Overcharge is a non-electrical reskin — Primal keeps the original electrical version, conductive-metal requirement intact.)
  • Thermal Shield — Negate one instance of fire/frost damage.

Spell List (draft, from official Elementalist New Magic)

Tier 1 - Aqueous Harmony — Water-breathing/pressure tolerance/underwater sight for the caster + a dozen allies, 1 hr/level. - Flame Scrying — Sense and scry through open flames within 30 ft/level. - Elemental Favor — Reshape a non-magical mass of earth/stone/water/flame/air (up to a 10-ft cube) by request. - Elemental Spy — Enchant a stone/liquid/flame/smoke to see and hear through it remotely, 1 day/level. - Earthbind (adapted from Piton the Fool — fan homebrew) — Target standing over exposed earth is forced half-buried; needs a turn + a Physical save to dig free (targets with more HD/levels than the caster get an initial save too; -2 in mud/difficult terrain). A rare Primal spell that controls without damaging — fits the communion-not-weaponization identity well. - Watcher's Flame (adapted from Snuffing the Restful Flame — fan homebrew) — Ward a campfire and the area within 100 ft; anyone not exempted who enters snuffs the flame and wakes the caster if sleeping. Good "wilderness camp" utility flavor, distinct from anything Crimson or General offers.

Tier 2 - Boreal Wings — Ally flies at 2x movement. - The Burrower Below — Tunnel through stone/earth, 20 ft/level long. - Flame Without End — Create a self-sustaining eternal flame; usable as a weapon (+2 dmg). - Pact of Stone and Sea — Target immune to mundane harm from a chosen element for the scene. - Unmelting Ice (adapted from Everlasting Ice — fan homebrew) — Conjure a fist-sized chunk of ice that never melts or shatters without intent; can freeze a cubic foot of water over a scene, or be fixed to a blunt weapon for +2 dmg (not Shock). Caster can maintain a number of chunks equal to level, each needing 500 sp in rare materials. A slower, craft-flavored elemental utility spell rather than a combat one.

Tier 3 - Elemental Vallation — Wall of churning elemental force, 10 ft/level long, different effects (damage/knockback/electrical) depending on element chosen. Direct Primal counterpart to Crimson's Ward Line — worth confirming they stay meaningfully different (this one damages/repels; Crimson's is pure exclusion, no damage). - Like the Stones — Self-transformation granting elemental resistances/movement depending on chosen element (stone/water/air/fire). - Wind Walking — Target becomes mist, moves freely in 3D, can't manipulate objects.

Tier 4 - Elemental Guardian — Summon a 4-6 HD elemental servant with combat stats, serves with total devotion. - Calcifying Scourge — Target turned to stone on failed Physical save.

Tier 5 - Fury of the Elements — Capstone. 10d6 dmg in 30-ft radius, then wanders randomly for 1d6 rounds, destroying structures in its path. - Tremors of the Depths — Slow-building earthquake, topples structures in a 500-ft radius unless dispelled within a minute. - World-Shaping (adapted from The Earth as Clay — High Magic spell, routed here per the full-list audit) — Molds and shapes natural stone and earth across a very large area. Not an official Elementalist spell, but thematically belongs to Primal more than any Arcane school — the one High Magic entry pulled into this list rather than staying with Crimson/Mirage/Haras/General. One-line summary only, needs full mechanics pulled from the book.

Still open

  • Confirm the Elemental Vallation / Ward Line distinction (damage-wall vs. exclusion-wall) is different enough to justify both schools having a signature wall spell.
  • The Grand Ocean's Five Points of Regrowth (fan homebrew, tier 4 — salt-water regeneration ritual, regrows lost limbs/heads over an hour of soaking, works on the dead but doesn't revive) hasn't been added yet — strong candidate but worth checking it doesn't step on Healer Sigil territory before it's locked in.
  • Since Primal sits outside the formal school system, consider whether it needs any setting-specific reflavoring beyond mechanics (e.g., is "Elemental Guardian" something a Primal caster would frame as a servant, or as kin?).

Sources used

  • Official WWN Elementalist Arts and New Magic spell list, plus 1 curated High Magic spell (Worlds Without Number Free Edition PDF, pages 60–93).
  • Fan "Project Gemini" spellbook and "Prompts Without Number" Inktober page (sites.google.com/view/projectgemini/spellbook and /inktober) — homebrew, not official Sine Nomine content.
  • See /High_Magic_Audit.md for the full 52-spell cross-school assignment.