Necromancy • Legacy Witch Damage Spell
Wave of Mutilation
Wave of Mutilation sends a cone of destructive necromantic force from the caster’s hand or athame, tearing living flesh while leaving unliving matter unharmed.
Wave of Mutilation at a Glance
| 5.5e / 2024 | No direct conversion published here |
|---|---|
| 5e / 2014 | No direct conversion published here |
| Pathfinder 1e | Not a default Pathfinder Witch spell |
| D&D 3.x Legacy | Witch 6 |
Spell Rules by Edition
5.5e / 2024
Status: no conversion is published here.
5e / 2014
Status: no direct 2014 conversion is presented.
Pathfinder 1e
Status: not a default Pathfinder Witch spell.
D&D 3.x Legacy
| School | Necromancy |
|---|---|
| Level | Witch 6 |
| Components | V, S, M |
| Casting Time | 4 actions |
| Area | Cone, 10 ft. + 1 ft./level |
| Duration | Instantaneous |
| Saving Throw | Reflex half |
| Spell Resistance | Yes |
Living creatures in the cone take 12d6 damage as the magic tears and twists flesh. Undead, constructs and nonliving matter are unaffected.
Material component: the original legacy source specifies a drop of pixie blood.
What Changed?
No modern conversion is assumed. The fixed 12d6 damage, unusual cone scaling and creature-type exclusions remain legacy mechanics.
Using Wave of Mutilation in Play
This is a short-range area attack designed for living crowds. Positioning matters because the cone is narrow compared with many later-edition spells, and the spell is useless against undead and constructs.
Counterplay and Rulings
- Reflex saves halve the damage under the legacy rules.
- Spell Resistance applies.
- Nonliving objects are not damaged.
Practical Rulings
- Targeting: the legacy spell projects a cone measuring 10 feet plus 1 foot per caster level. Use that spell’s original area geometry and measure from the caster, not the reach of a modern fifth-edition cone.
- Defences: living creatures in the area can attempt the listed Reflex save for half damage; spell resistance applies independently under the legacy rules.
- Creature types: undead and constructs are explicitly unaffected. Ordinary nonliving objects are unharmed, allowing investigators to distinguish this magic from fire or disintegration.
- Counterspell and Dispel Magic: an applicable legacy counterspell can interrupt the casting; a later dispel cannot reverse hit point damage from this instantaneous effect.
- Legacy boundaries: the unusual four-action casting time and variable cone remain as printed in the older Witch source. They are not converted into 5.5e actions or modern spell-slot scaling.
Related Magic and Creatures
Horrid Wilting offers another approach to destructive life-targeting magic; Dispel Magic and Undead help adjudicate the spell’s limits. Return to the Witch Spell Lists for its legacy class placement.
Mythical Context
Greek tradition could give death a personal presence through Thanatos. A destructive necromantic wave may evoke that ancient fear of death arriving without a visible blade, though its spell mechanics remain wholly fictional. See the classical account of Thanatos.
Historical Context
Mesopotamian incantation tablets, including the Maqlû series, preserve protective ceremonies meant to counter harmful witchcraft. Such sources establish real ritual practices and anxieties about magical injury, not the power to wound a line of living creatures. See the British Museum’s Neo-Assyrian Maqlû tablet.
Rules Sources and Licensing
Legacy source: Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks. The obsolete advertising script previously embedded in this page has been removed.
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