I’ve been toying with different ways to make the OD&D spells and abilities more useful in dungeon by adding challenges/hints/help if they are used. One of these is the oft-maligned Read Magic spell!
Most people think Read Magic applies only to a script like latin or whatever that shifts and crawls on the page, making your head feel woozy if you don’t cast it. I’ve added some different ways of having magic be “read”.
Entrails! Horuspicy has been used to read magic for a very long time. Having entrails hung upon a door as a way to have a curse be “visible” and telegraphed can make Read Magic useful.
Bones! Reading bones can also be a way to make the dungeon dressing be useful. That pile of bones can be “read” to determine things about the skeletons about to activate, or what-have you.
Stars! My current dungeon has “stars” on the ceilings like Elden Ring. Star patterns can be used by ancient civilizations to protect their tombs, or give directions. Having stars reflect in pools of water be read to give clues, too.
Any other cool ways y’all can think of?
2 Likes
Some of my Spellbook Surrogates might work for this sort of thing if looked at a bit sideways. Since the Spellbook is what encodes the Magic in some way, it doesn’t necessarily have to contain words 