5 Best D&D Spells for an Evil Spell Caster

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  • Опубликовано: 4 ноя 2024

Комментарии • 276

  • @Nerdarchy
    @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад +14

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    • @user-ro1cs5hp5e
      @user-ro1cs5hp5e 5 лет назад +1

      Merry Christmas! :D

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад +2

      @@user-ro1cs5hp5e thank you. Happy Holidays.
      Nerdarchist Dave

    • @ClassMRule
      @ClassMRule 5 лет назад +1

      I'm a huge fan of old School Flesh to Stone, or Petrify. When you can turn someone onto a statue, essentially making them room decoration, it just screams menacing and evil.
      That said, I'd like to think of a situation where a Vampire Lord would freeze his own men in stone like some version of a Terra Cotta army, only for him to release them after his 1000 years of slumber.

    • @nytecrow6452
      @nytecrow6452 5 лет назад +1

      Meteor Swarm didn't make the list? It can level cities. Imagine a big baddy gets mad at a governor and just decides to drop meteors on the city xD

  • @M0ebius
    @M0ebius 5 лет назад +129

    My home game actually features necromancy as part of everyday economy, where necromancer guilds raise undead for basic manual labor and the transportation of goods across dangerous trade routes. The cadavers are sourced, branded and tagged, and tightly regulated in major cities, but an underground economy exists for dead bodies. The PCs from time to time have missions tracking down corpse poachers, taking down rogue necromancers, or crack down on undead syndicates.

    • @3064Gaming
      @3064Gaming 5 лет назад +2

      Same here.

    • @jacobsipes
      @jacobsipes 5 лет назад +3

      This is awesome!

    • @patsutherland6853
      @patsutherland6853 5 лет назад +2

      Can I "borrow" this idea?

    • @Troglodytarum
      @Troglodytarum 5 лет назад +1

      @@patsutherland6853 As is tabletop tradition, you can borrow anything.

    • @doomblackdragon
      @doomblackdragon 4 года назад +1

      Necromancy is not evil. When he was talking about bring a soul back and putting it in a dead body. That sounds more like resurrection magic and not necromancy. You could also just say, "resurrection spells are just miss labelled necromancy spells."

  • @One_Eyed_Man_
    @One_Eyed_Man_ 5 лет назад +54

    "Flesh to stone" + "Stone shape" and use your imagination.

    • @Fektthis
      @Fektthis 3 года назад +4

      @Nealen the Nerd I'd allow it. If you dispelled it I'd allow you to go back to your normal form. Until then if you're a stone toilet in a public park, that's just how it worked out for ya.

    • @fenixmeaney6170
      @fenixmeaney6170 3 года назад +1

      @Nealen the Nerd petrified
      Page 291 phb
      A petrified creature is transformed, along with any nonmagical object it was wearing or carrying, into a solid inanimate substance (*usually stone*).

    • @doggoincorporated3686
      @doggoincorporated3686 3 года назад +1

      Then do stone to flesh

    • @killertaco97
      @killertaco97 3 года назад +1

      Yo Angelo

  • @ErokowXiyze
    @ErokowXiyze 5 лет назад +90

    No Soul Cage?! Torture after death is totally worse than Finger of Death!

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад +8

      Considered it but the duration is rather short.
      Nerdarchist Dave

  • @TheLordofMetroids
    @TheLordofMetroids 5 лет назад +70

    I love giving my players a Geas that they & I don't know the effect of I have an archfay, devil demon or sometimes even a god tell the characters when they bargain with them "at some point in the future, i will give you a task, and you will be required to perform it, it will be a small task no greater then 5 words, and it will not last for more then a minute."
    Then when the player forgets about that deal they made 20 sessions ago "a small voice creeps into your mind, and whispers it's dark will to you, 'you will kill the child,'" or something equally sinister. My absolute favorite one was, "you will now do nothing," this prevented the player from stopping the bbeg from escaping a fight, causing that ark to continue for 10 more sessions.

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад +10

      Our group has had some bad experiences with geas in the past.
      Nerdarchist Dave

    • @idavisband
      @idavisband 5 лет назад

      I

    • @kurtisbrown4208
      @kurtisbrown4208 3 года назад

      The thing is though with that spell they could just decide to not do it. And it would only take 5d10 damage and could just wait it out for 30 days. after taking the damage they could just take a short rest then boom problem solved

  • @nes819
    @nes819 5 лет назад +98

    The most evil thing i ever did in D&D was taking my high lvl Pala and using lay on hands while punching the person who held back the info i needed.
    I may need to tell that in our game "Healing" speeds up the natural healing of your boddy, but while smaler things regrow (teeth, fingertips, eiebals... you gett it) big losses need much more efort over time. The pain also stays for a few minutes.
    So this guy ended up spitting teeth left and right with multiple broken jaws. My pala had to take several breaks because the NPC faided from pain. This ended up taking multiple days and in the end completely broke the NPC's mind. My Pala kept him as a guarddog afterwards.
    So jea, i think every spell is onely as evil as the whay you use it. (Evil smile)

    • @duranpredur1098
      @duranpredur1098 5 лет назад +8

      And your deity had nothing to say about that?

    • @nes819
      @nes819 5 лет назад +8

      @@duranpredur1098 That campain had gods with little to no interest in our realm. In the campain were playing now, i'd beter have my god backing that behaviour.

    • @frankcastle1124
      @frankcastle1124 5 лет назад +7

      A paladin doing something like that in my game would have had his paladinship stripped from him by his god untill he atoned for his actions he would effectively be a fighter until he atoned

    • @nes819
      @nes819 5 лет назад +8

      @@frankcastle1124 sounda fair, but this was part of his "Crusade". Getting the "heretics" back on the path of light has priority over human decency.

    • @frankcastle1124
      @frankcastle1124 5 лет назад +5

      Nes , I understand that but doing something like that isnt a Lawful Good act it borders very closely to being Lawful Evil because the intentions aren't Chaotic due to him not doing it for selfish reasons .
      Its kind of like a cop knowing that the guy he stopped is a drug dealer but having found no drugs on him then plants drugs on the guy taking him off the street so someone wont overdose on his drugs .
      While both intentions might seem good their actions are eveil due to how they handled the situation because both set aside their moral beliefs in favor of society .
      A lot of people think that evil has to be harmful towards everyone yet a Lawful Evil character follows the law and even abuses it if he thinks he is doing right by society because as long as order is kept he doesn't care how its done , whereas a Chaotic Evil character will do evil actions because he just feels like it and he might even do something good if it benefits him in a major way but he is still evil and selfish because he is thinking of himself and if someone gets hurt or killed so be it .

  • @raikirah975
    @raikirah975 5 лет назад +44

    5: Summon (Greater/Lesser) Demon(s)/Infernal Calling -- These spells summon manifestations of pure evil into the world and have the bad habit of losing control over what the creature does.
    4: Soul Cage -- Any manipulation of another's actual soul is a bad thing, but leeching it of power like a battery is probably the worst of them.
    3: Create Undead -- Unlike Zombies and Skeletons, which are basically mindless workers and guardians, this spell creates semi-sentient embodiments of negative energy, whose sole desire is the death of the still-living.
    2: Suggestion -- If you can't think of some of the truly evil uses of this spell, then I don't know how to help you. Notice that the spell only forbids acts that are obviously harmful *to the target*, but doesn't say anything about its loved ones or acts that would go against its normal moral inclination? }:)
    1: Dominate Person/Monster -- For all the reasons you all listed in the video, as well as all of the truly depraved possibilities that you left out.

    • @awesomepocalypse3203
      @awesomepocalypse3203 5 лет назад

      Raikirah also it could be argued that say standing on a train track and standing still is not obviously harmful

    • @matthewlowe2193
      @matthewlowe2193 5 лет назад +2

      @@awesomepocalypse3203 Anyone arguing that would be a fucking idiot.

    • @jaredmabbutt6142
      @jaredmabbutt6142 5 лет назад

      Or tell them to lean over a cliff and close their eyes

  • @iPhoneeditor
    @iPhoneeditor 5 лет назад +18

    Top 5 for me:
    1.) Magic Jar, body snatching is straight up evil especially when/if they can survive the death of the other person's body. A wizard with access to both this and clone can cause no end of problems and can effectively be a pseudo-lich. The fact that the other person isn't dead, just along for the ride makes this every worse I feel.
    2.) Modify memory: you can literally write yourself in to other peoples lives, convince people they committed crimes that you committed, make them forget important moments of their lives or view friends and allies with disdain. Modify memory is one of the single most useful spells in game but also one of the most sinister!
    3.) Imprisonment (bye-bye!)
    4.) Planar Binding, nothing says bad guy like binding angels and demons to your will, especially if the vilain is binding good aligned things exclusively
    5.) Disintegrate/Finger of Death, I agree with your points here 100%, I honestly think disintegrate and finger of death should switch spell levels, disintegrate just seems better in pretty much every way but finger of death has that evil necromatic flair
    Honorable mentions:
    - plane shift: while normally being a very useful transportation spell it can be used offensively assuming you have a tuning fork to the plane of existence you are sending the creature to and can send people/creatures to planes of existence where they are effectively doomed such as the plane of water. An evil being who has made a deal with an extra planar entity might send people it plane shifts to it where that creature might turn them into a slave, take their soul, or any other evil things.
    - any of the spells that summon devil's or demons: that's a classic bad guy move right there
    - true polymorph: more often than not this is going to be used by the caster on themselves to temporarily become another very powerful creature, to burn the most powerful spell slots in your inventory to make someone a sheep or something is pretty bold move
    - Geas: have to carefully word this or it may be worked around and the damage isn't likely to kill you and only happens once a day so you can sorta say "f*ck it" and take the hit, that fact that it can be removed with remove curse makes it easily dealt with for most parties.
    - Feeblemind: on a failed save a character might be out for a good in game month or so and turns your genius world changing wizard into a helpless drooling mess and strips full casters of pretty much all power.

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад +1

      Good list.
      Nerdarchist Dave

    • @civilwriter1851
      @civilwriter1851 5 лет назад

      However keep in mind modify memory only works on a memory of up to 10 minutes even if you cast it at a higher level to be able to make it effect a memory longer ago than 24 hours. So you'd have to have any bond you'd want to make with person happen in a 10 minute window, or cast it a bunch of times.

  • @jbriggsiv
    @jbriggsiv 5 лет назад +22

    We had a rather unfortunate incident in AD&D when the DM imprisoned a player in a gem. When we tried to break him out, the shards ripped him to shreds. We felt really bad and the DM told us there was no way to "win". The character was done no matter what we did. It turns out he was just being a jerk to that player so we revolted as a party until he relented and we could find a necromancer to bring him back. Dying was common in AD&D, but we just couldn't abide a stacked deck and preferred to die from real encounters and not just made up garbage from a surly DM. I would chalk the DM up as the most evil in this case as the spell itself wasn't really the issue. Shards shouldn't be able to destroy a spirit. It has no form to slash. Thus began my distaste for adversarial DM's. To this day, I keep that in mind when running a game, allowing players the agency to either come up with a solution or allow the dice to determine the outcome. I tend to roll in the open after level 3 so the players can see I'm being fair. I'll admit to occasional fudging up to level 3 because nobody likes spending an hour or two to build his character just to get wiped out in his first or second session. After that though, their collective gate is up to their wits and random chance.

    • @chriswilder9719
      @chriswilder9719 5 лет назад +5

      I agree with you but there is also a thing as a no win situation. Adversarial dms are bad but also are players who think they should be able to whatever they want with no back lash. I did something like that and when my party bitched about it I pointed out that while they were being pricks and not listening to me while I talked to the person who got trapped I told him the exact repercussions of his actions he said no biggie and got himself trapped. When they broke it because once again they decided what I was saying didn't matter even though I was trying to tell them the proper way to get him out I said they killed him and in his last moments alive he heard them disregard his safety so they could brake something. They tried to get mad but I pointed out to them not listening both in game and out of it led to his death not me

    • @jbriggsiv
      @jbriggsiv 5 лет назад +4

      @@chriswilder9719 I've had situations like that as well. Some players don't listen to the DM and want to be mavericks and in doing so put themselves and their party at risk. I see no issue with the DM giving them a little extra challenge to make the point that they are being off in a negative direction for the game and that this isn't just a one player solo experience. I've seen a selfish player who thinks he's the only one who Master's completely disregard his party and lead them into terrible situations. These have even led to a TPK. I usually talk to the ready of the players afterwards and find a common thread. They want to support their team as they see the game as a team experience. They usually support the selfish player because they are thing to model good behavior in the hopes that he'll see the "right" way to play with them and come around. They don't want to be mean to him and say, "you're wrong". I applaud their efforts in trying to coach their own companions and hate to see them lose good characters in doing so, but their good attitudes really show how great some players really can be. My ultimate solution for circumventing these situations in the future is to pull the problem player aside and try to coach him. If he's really not going to be a team player and the other players don't want to boot him from their game then I'll tend to set up better outcomes for the others when he leads them down a path that could potentially mean their doom. If the TPK didn't teach him, and taking doesn't work, then I find boredom often will. I'll just hold back all encounters until the team gets fed up and forces him to abandon his selfish pursuits.

  • @JorneDeSmedt
    @JorneDeSmedt 5 лет назад +44

    The real question is: Can I continue playing as a squirrel and go on a quest for nuts?

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад +6

      Bust out the UA sidekick rules and you're good to go.
      Nerdarchist Dave

    • @gnarthdarkanen7464
      @gnarthdarkanen7464 5 лет назад +4

      You consult THE GREAT Foamy!
      ALL hail the Cult of Squirrel and our Heavenly Master FOAMY!
      Purveyor and Keeper of all that is Squirrely Wisdome!!!
      Hail you pathetic mortals!!! Hail to the Great Foamy and HIS Cult!!!
      Hail! Hail! Hail! ;o)

    • @mke3053
      @mke3053 3 года назад

      I had a player playing an awakened squirrel.

  • @das_gruuben
    @das_gruuben 4 года назад +3

    Love the philosophical bent on this video. I'm currently playing my 1st DnD campaign as a druid and was shocked to see blight as a druid spell.
    Then I took a step back and looked at it again.
    I'm a landscaper and I've done a bunch of volunteer environmental conservation work. The blight spell would be an amazing boon to anyone trying to remove a virulent stand of bamboo or any of the myriad invasive plant species here in Western WA.

  • @revshad4226
    @revshad4226 5 лет назад +5

    Magic Jar is one of my absolute favorite spells. I love using it as a GM. One of the best parts of it, in my opinion, is it has no duration so rather than becoming a lich, the wizard using it to jump bodies and prolong their life forever, and using the Magic Aura spell to mask the presence of magic on the jar.

  • @qlipothian
    @qlipothian 5 лет назад +40

    Feeblemind sounds so cruel.

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад +3

      Also a good one.
      Nerdarchist Dave

  • @jerrybeard8995
    @jerrybeard8995 5 лет назад +23

    Psychic Scream, if you are killed by it , your head explodes EEP

  • @dizzykincade7831
    @dizzykincade7831 4 года назад +8

    When that Priest cast “Molest Child”, I thought that was pretty evil.

  • @LikeButton7
    @LikeButton7 5 лет назад +17

    Enchantment is the most evil thing in D&D. Necromancy can’t hang with that.

  • @jaquelinelorn1906
    @jaquelinelorn1906 5 лет назад +17

    geas is great! but there's so many horrible custom spells you can make. one of my favorites is from a webcomic called "oots".
    they had a wizard cast "familicide" which killed anything even remotely related to you.

  • @TheVictor126
    @TheVictor126 5 лет назад +4

    tip: if someone on your party is affected by geas and given a command of like, protect the bad guy or something similar you can always cast feeblemind on your ally, if he can't understand language = geas dos not work ;)
    works specially well if your ally affected does not need spells to deal damage

    • @thisisausername9356
      @thisisausername9356 4 года назад

      The problem there is that it states that someone under feeblemind can "Recognize their allies and even possibly defend them" and in this case they would see the BBEG as an ally
      Unless the target is a spellcaster, feeblemind won't do much

  • @EdRadley
    @EdRadley 5 лет назад +2

    Mental Prison: intelligence is usually a dump stat for anyone other than a wizard so it's harder to save unless you're immune to charm, the target can't see or hear anything beyond 5 feet of them and is considered restrained, and at a minimum the target receives 5d10 psychic damage, at a maximum 15d10 apart from any damage they received while restrained for up to 1 minute. The combination of mental torture and cruelty required to use this spell makes it a big one in my book.

  • @rawbagle
    @rawbagle 5 лет назад

    This may be the Dwarven ale talking, but I love you guys, you're the best tabletop game channel on RUclips

  • @m4xfl4xst4r
    @m4xfl4xst4r 5 лет назад +1

    Wish.
    We played a campaign lasting many months, fought our way to the uber boss... and she simply made a Wish that we become her henchmen. Considering we eliminated so many lackeys on the way up to her, it made sense. It also explained why there was such a diverse array of henchmen in her "employ". So, the choice was continue as henchmen in game or retire the campaign. Needless to say, we were PISSED.

    • @Rjciralli
      @Rjciralli 5 лет назад

      m4xfl4xst4r Doesn’t Wish at least have a Will Save/Wis Save when it’s targeting someone specific and unwilling?

  • @jakeman3659
    @jakeman3659 5 лет назад +1

    Dude I am now defiantly attuned to the notification bell after the way you phrased it

  • @PiratePawsLive
    @PiratePawsLive 5 лет назад +1

    I still want to play the charismatic Intelligent Necromancer which basically emulates Devils. He goes around, finds poor people and offers them money or services for their services after they are dead. They sign the contract and he comes back to collect once they die. :)
    I don't see the spells as inherently evil but here is my list of spells which I would give a villain:
    - Gate (open a gate above the castle of the king into a primordial dimension)
    - Geas (Mindcontrol anyone)
    - Mirage Arcane (Turn a town into a hellscape from the 9 hells or abyss and watch them go slowly insane)
    - Pass Wall (Cheap mobility spell, as well as walk into almost any building)
    - Phantasmal Killer (Tormenting ppl with their worst fears is pretty evil, unless they deserve it xD)

  • @Draegn
    @Draegn 5 лет назад +2

    Invisibility and silence for the mischief you can cause. Playing a thief, using a magic item, then being stealthy to forge with ink (name of rival NPC thief was here with a drawn arrow) on the inner thigh of the LG NPC ranger. And then concealing the ink in the rival thief's pack. This caused a fight between the two which the other players intervened in killing the rival and leaving me able to keep all the treasure the rival and I were supposed to split.
    Thief honor is the best honor.

  • @aarroad574
    @aarroad574 5 лет назад +2

    Yes i've wanted for nerdarchy christmas themed video for a while and now it's finally here

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад +1

      Lol. Evil Christmas about the same.
      Nerdarchist Dave

  • @MrBurstfire99
    @MrBurstfire99 5 лет назад +4

    That was the best intro you guys have ever done

  • @lukoushilsgen6812
    @lukoushilsgen6812 5 лет назад +5

    If it was an earlier edition, I would have inserted death spell, finger of death, or any spell that has a death descriptor. They would irrevocably destroy the soul of the target.

  • @kriggitch.5855
    @kriggitch.5855 5 лет назад +1

    Soul cage was the first to come to my mind, mostly because reading it made me look at my goofy necromancer character and think “yyyeah, getting more powerful spells would definitely push her over the deep end into total villain”

  • @rickeymariu1
    @rickeymariu1 5 лет назад +6

    Im going to break out some OLD spells.
    Wrack, mind rape, spoil water, gate, and of course, wish.

  • @Someguy-xu3oy
    @Someguy-xu3oy 5 лет назад +2

    Freaking love this channel. keep up the awesome work guys!!

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад

      Thank you very much.
      Nerdarchist Dave

  • @qlipothian
    @qlipothian 5 лет назад +8

    Magic jar reminds me of Superior Spider-man.

  • @rcschmidt668
    @rcschmidt668 4 года назад

    Another informative session! Appreciate y’all! Ted’s shirt was hilarious!

  • @no1imp0rtant81
    @no1imp0rtant81 5 лет назад +1

    I love y’alls videos. That opening skit made my morning

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад

      Thanks glad you enjoyed it.
      Nerdarchist Dave

  • @lambdamoth
    @lambdamoth 5 лет назад +3

    Feeblemind is a great evil spell. I just played a session yesterday and used it on a succubus. She called me dumb one too many times. Well, whos the dumb one now?

  • @ShikiRen
    @ShikiRen 5 лет назад +3

    The worst of the obliterating spells has got to be "Necrotic Termination". After that the soul is GONE. Not even a Wish or Miracle can bring someone killed with that back. Oh and the cyst implanted as the spell focus becomes a free willed undead too, just because.

    • @zhoupact8567
      @zhoupact8567 5 лет назад

      Do not seem that special though. I mean... they die. >.> Like... rather normal death if you consider being blasted with magic normal. And sure, your body becomes an undead. So what? You just got deleted. Good luck waiting for whatever complaint mr dead got to the situation. It seems to me, being alive is way more scary than being dead.

    • @ShikiRen
      @ShikiRen 5 лет назад +1

      @@zhoupact8567 Remember this is a magical world. As long as your soul exists, there is the chance of ressurrection, reincarnation or living in the realm of your respective god etc. If the soul is destroyed, there is no chance for anything.

  • @nathankelley1466
    @nathankelley1466 5 лет назад +6

    Mom, Dad...don't touch it,.....it's evil!!!

  • @darkdesigns
    @darkdesigns 3 года назад

    Got to say, I kind of love that Geas is your #1 evil spell; my chaotic good druid uses it *all* of the time. XD Just give a short speech, slip a command at the end of it, and if they ever go against that command they immediately take damage. It's definitely one of my favorites. :)

  • @stripeybag6977
    @stripeybag6977 5 лет назад +9

    Feeblemind is pretty evil since you mentally destroy something for the duration. Also can you guys maybe do a list of flashy/entertaining spells to use? Or leave suggestions because I have a Changeling Wild Magic Sorceress who's whole thing is to be well flashy and entertaining.

    • @stripeybag6977
      @stripeybag6977 5 лет назад +2

      Wonder what your guys list says about me since I tend to take these spells a lot.

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад +2

      I'll see what we can do.
      Nerdarchist Dave

    • @stripeybag6977
      @stripeybag6977 5 лет назад +3

      @@Nerdarchy Thanks for considering it. Also glad you found a Maiden's Kiss Nerdarchist Dave and hope you all have a Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas.

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад +1

      @@stripeybag6977 Happy Holidays to you as well.
      Nerdarchist Dave

  • @ericpreble674
    @ericpreble674 5 лет назад +4

    Not a spell, but Great Old One Warlock ability Create Thrall.
    No save, all you have to do is touch someone as they sleep.

    • @jazoinklastname4289
      @jazoinklastname4289 5 лет назад

      "All you have to do is touch someone as they sleep" catholic church has entered the chat

  • @clericofchaos1
    @clericofchaos1 5 лет назад +13

    Any spell can be evil depending on how it's used. For instance, I once used the minor illusion cantrip to break up a guard's marriage and trick him into murdering an innocent man. When I stayed around to watch him hang the dm was like "I feel like this should cause an alignment shift" I just said "HEY! He tried to charge us a toll! That's the real evil here!"

    • @mwil2495
      @mwil2495 5 лет назад +2

      clericofchaos1 depends on how much the toll was and if it was a legitimate toll or a form of bribery. Seems like a long way to go over a handful of coin.

    • @clericofchaos1
      @clericofchaos1 5 лет назад +1

      @@mwil2495 it was a legitimate toll...but I don't like paying tolls.

    • @kasuscloud4805
      @kasuscloud4805 5 лет назад +2

      Your alignment has shifted. Chaotic Neutral, with a few points away from being Chaotic Evil.

  • @00784865
    @00784865 5 лет назад +2

    Animate Dead is not evil.Zombies and skeletons are more constructs bcs their soul leaves the body.The only hing keeping them up is the necromantic energy.

    • @BigusGeekus
      @BigusGeekus 5 лет назад

      Animate Dead is considered evil because by D&D's RAW cosmology, even petty undead like skeletons and zombies make the world a worse place just by existing.

  • @patsutherland6853
    @patsutherland6853 5 лет назад +2

    "Hi my name is Sebastion Crowe, and I am going to set you on fire"
    (Casts Burning Hands)
    (This is a Dungeon Dudes Reference)

  • @jhansen4661
    @jhansen4661 5 лет назад +4

    The folks at Frog God Games call a polymorphed nerdarchist Dave as a frog an upgrade

    • @gnarthdarkanen7464
      @gnarthdarkanen7464 5 лет назад

      He'd save on shaving and grooming supplies, too... so Bonus? ;o)

  • @gregoryfloriolli9031
    @gregoryfloriolli9031 5 лет назад +5

    Your two most evil spells are both from Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth. Imprisonment was the Spell of Forlorn Encystment which traps the target in a stasis bubble buried 45 miles beneath the earth for all eternity.
    Geas is worse. In the book, Cugel the Clever tries to rob a Wizard and gets caught in something similar to the Maze spell. In that story, it’s an extraterrestrial creatures that is all barbs and spines that burrows into Cugel’s body and latches onto his liver. Every time Cugel deviates from his mission even in the slightest the creature tears into Cugel’s liver with its barbs and causes him horrific pain.

  • @eliparker4114
    @eliparker4114 5 лет назад

    My top five are Geas, feeblemind, finger of death, infernal calling, and magic jar. Honorable mention goes to bestow curse for allowing creative usage, but it requires DM approval for some of the more unusual curses you might come up with.

  • @Shatterwings060
    @Shatterwings060 5 лет назад +1

    Nothing is off limits... Any spell can be turned evil with enough imagination.

  • @chrissoto7187
    @chrissoto7187 5 лет назад +1

    Imprisonments is my favorite spell

  • @walkseva
    @walkseva 5 лет назад +11

    What about top 5 "good" spells?

  • @kyleellis9177
    @kyleellis9177 5 лет назад +1

    That was a good way to phrase the necromancy issue ted. if magic was introduce to the world now who would be ok with necromancy. maybe half the atheists and like 1/20 religions depending on the bodies uses. Some cultures i could see using necromancy to talk to the corpse at their funeral for a final rites thing. or like in eberron using bodies for labour. or a culture of pacifists using the bodies of the ancestors as their standing defensive army so the living citizins souls arent tainted by violence. (or really just like the communist russians using the falllen soldiers continuosly)
    99% of necromancy is evil because its tied to cosmic forces of good and evil. you have to work at it to make a culture or character idea that isent an evil necromancer and even if you do people do whats easy so 99% of the others in that world using that magic would be the more evil people doing vile magic to accomplish a vile task. most people would come up with oh ill make the scarecrow animate and use that to do my chores before thinking ill animate my uncle teds body and have his smelly corpse clean up my house.
    One thing i do think Dave overlooks about "good" necromancy however is that were the PC's (the main characters in the book) we are the exceptions to the rule. so you can have the 1 good necromancer in your party if they have a good idea. just show them how many other necromancers use it for easier more evil purposes and have people confront them over their unusual choice for making their life easier when magic could do everything necromancy does in other easier and less somach turning ways

  • @brockm7256
    @brockm7256 5 лет назад +1

    In my campaign their are a Gray Elf man and woman married to each other and are both powerful Wizards. The male is a Conjurer who is good fiends with several celestial and the woman is a powerful Enchanters. One of the things the woman loves to do is have her husband summon Demons and Devils. She then cast Feeblemind on the Demons and Devils along with Modify Memory and Dominate Monster. With these three spells she alters and warps the Fiends minds and forces them to perform good deeds like helping farmers, merchants and travelers in the area. Both the man and woman are NG so the problems my players had was they were saying the two Elves should be Evil for what they are doing to the Fiends. What do You guys think? Is forcing an evils creature to perform good deeds and act of evil?

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад

      I think it might be in the chaotic good territory more than anything.
      Nerdarchist Dave

  • @Yurikan
    @Yurikan 5 лет назад

    Most evil spell for a DM is 5e prestidigitation. I actually had to do an updated version just to fix the giant hole with specifying a trinket that fits in ones hand and not defining what that is.
    For players, I think the jar spell is probably the worst one. It's basically a better intellect devourer.

  • @fredvieth2587
    @fredvieth2587 5 лет назад +1

    Many not make the top 5 but true resurrection. You could bring back the previous king and trick/manipulate him into declare his son/replacement responsable for his death. Kill a PC then bring them back and recrute them against the party. Not only can you kill someone horrifically but have that character come back as a villain. Third, you could kill a PC/loved one repeatedly. If you want to antagonize players, steal their pet and kill it, repeatedly. The caster now has their attention, assuming it is their pet and not just an animal. The only "evil" magic is the spells that say they are evil in the description but any spell can be used for evil. Some people are just more creative

  • @Comrade2261
    @Comrade2261 5 лет назад +1

    Now I need to make a frog character that goes on a quest to save Dave from the effects of frog-curse.

  • @FateFormedd
    @FateFormedd 4 года назад

    5. Command, 4. Inflict Wounds, 3. Suggestion, 2. True Polymorph (to change someone to an item), 1. Magic Jar

  • @uncleistvan3501
    @uncleistvan3501 5 лет назад +5

    Improvement? No, he didn't even need to go on a quest to revert to true form.
    I guess that's what happens when you use the cheapest ingredients on important spells.
    Frogarchy!

  • @TheAstoundingPandry
    @TheAstoundingPandry 5 лет назад +2

    Love your videos, but I would love to have a recap at the end of these top 5 or top 10 videos at the end.

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад +1

      We'll take that into consideration for future videos. Thanks
      Nerdarchist Dave

  • @Nyrufa
    @Nyrufa 5 лет назад

    My favorite spells in D&D are, in the following order: Disintegrate, Flesh to Stone and Finger of Death.
    I've been a fan of them ever since I played Baldur's Gate!

  • @dfgsfhghgsf
    @dfgsfhghgsf 5 лет назад +5

    Soul Cage, Feeblemind, Power Word Pain, and MODIFY MEMORY
    Nothing quite like having an NPC Bard/Sorcerer multiclass who can Extend a Modify Memory at 9th level and erase someone's entire life in 2 minutes

    • @ErokowXiyze
      @ErokowXiyze 5 лет назад

      Oh, I forgot Power Word Pain! That's good too.

    • @MrDigital3lf
      @MrDigital3lf 5 лет назад

      Literally rewriting someone's entire life, self image, and ego. Modify Memory is my #1!

    • @civilwriter1851
      @civilwriter1851 5 лет назад

      I'm afraid not: While this charm lasts, you can affect the target’s memory of an event that it experienced within the last 24 hours and that lasted no more than 10 minutes.
      You can cast it has a higher level to go farther than 24 hours, but not increasing the 10 minutes.

  • @ranekeisenkralle8265
    @ranekeisenkralle8265 4 года назад

    I for one like to use various illusion spells with my warlock. The sheer amount of mindf*ckery you can do with that is incredible - including manifesting effects of much higher level spells (like a warlock manifesting a gate to one of the lower planes and maybe let the silhouette of their patron move within the shadows on the other side...)

  • @stephenbruns5247
    @stephenbruns5247 4 года назад +1

    I know who this is from a while ago but heat metal use a torture someone is pretty evil.

  • @adamholcomb1906
    @adamholcomb1906 5 лет назад

    Ok my top Five are:
    1. Summon lesser Demons and greater Demon. I have both due to it being the same style spell just one has more power then the other.
    2. Infernal calling. Very dangerous and very evil.
    3. Animate dead/Danse macabre. Every time I cast one of there’s spells with my Drow Necromancer at a table in AL the cleric or paladin or Druid or Harper or Emerald Enclave member freak out and RP spat of anger always happens if not the destruction of his toys🤷🏼‍♂️😈
    4. Soul Cage. Nothing says evil the enslaving a soul and using it ripping it apart to feed your character’s health😈
    5. Finger of Death. For reasons mentioned💀

  • @shootingstarswithcandybars4434
    @shootingstarswithcandybars4434 4 года назад

    My combination of evil spells to ultimately torture someone's mind to death
    Step 1: cast Demiplane on a flat ground this creates a 30 foot cubed stone walled room with the only exit being a trap door (since you cast it on the ground and the door is created where you cast it) you then throw your victim into it
    Step 2: cast maddening darkness onto the victim in the room while looking down on them through the trap door, this causes pitch black darkness that not even magic can penetrate through, not only that but any creatures caught in it can only hear the sounds of their greatest fears slowly driving them insane as well as 8D8 psychic damage
    Step 3: cast power word pain onto the victim, this causes the victims own body to slowly torture them with extreme crippling pain (if they aren't already then they soon will be begging for death)
    Step 4: cast feeblemind on the victim as they beg for death, this spell does 4D6 psychic damage and had a high chance to completely shatter the victims mind leaving them pretty much a broken empty shell of their former self
    Step 5: slowly close the trap door place a heavy object over it, and just walk away, after 1 hour the door to the Demiplane disappears causing the victim to be permanently trapped inside slowly starving to death as they struggle in vain to try to remember who they were and how they got there

  • @sasivasebas
    @sasivasebas 5 лет назад +1

    Evil spell? MODIFY MEMORY!

  • @Error-eb9gv
    @Error-eb9gv 5 лет назад

    In a game on a podcast someone cast something at 9th lvl that with the up casting was compelled to do nothing but scream for something like 9 years.

  • @telkei3365
    @telkei3365 5 лет назад

    chill touch, due to the side effect of preventing healing, there is a very deliberate effect, and, litches with this is are a NIGHTMARE

  • @TheLostArchangel666
    @TheLostArchangel666 5 лет назад +1

    14.35
    SHE TURNED ME INTO A NEWT!

  • @zachbailey1504
    @zachbailey1504 5 лет назад

    Geas kinda surprised me because I’ve only ever seen my players use it for good. The cleric cast it on some enforcers from the thieves guild to sort of “rehabilitate” them.
    I guess it just didn’t dawn on me to use it against the party.

  • @mylesdrake2949
    @mylesdrake2949 5 лет назад +3

    AD&D had a lot of nasty spells, bones to jelly, ghoul brand/curse, etc. However in 5e mine are Bestow curse, Flesh to stone, Dominate person/Monster, Soul cage, and magic jar. There is no way to use these spells in a way that's "good". Imprison, true polymorph and geas can have justification to be used as a good character. Imprison the BBGE like in Tartarus or how is Alduin from ES, True polymorph to create life or to "fix" a broken body, geas to insure a quest is taken or oath is unbroken.

    • @BigusGeekus
      @BigusGeekus 5 лет назад

      Flesh to Stone is a simple incapacitation spell. The victim might not even be aware of their status. It works more or less like Imprison.
      Bestow Curse can, when carefully handled, be used as a punishment.
      Dominate X, while almost always used for malign ends, can (in extreme circumstances) be used for moral purposes.
      Magic Jar can be used like Dominate, albeit in a somewhat squickier fashion.
      I'm on board with Soul Cage, though.

    • @mylesdrake2949
      @mylesdrake2949 5 лет назад

      @@BigusGeekus if you look at real life mythology the hero never uses things like this only the monsters and villains of the story or the person trying to teach the hero a lesson. In the dnd verse a LG character would never use any of these spells, some used by neutral and maybe CG but these spells are the bread and butter of evil pc/anti heros and villains. That and their nasty effects is why I deem them the evilist spells, however they aren't the only ones, blight and contagion are too but to me their effects aren't all that severe.

    • @BigusGeekus
      @BigusGeekus 5 лет назад

      @@mylesdrake2949 "or the person trying to teach the hero a lesson"? You mean someone using that "evil" spell for good purposes?
      I recognize that it's easier to use those spells for evil, but that's actually true of most of the spells in the PHB. Violence is the easy path, after all. :P

    • @mylesdrake2949
      @mylesdrake2949 5 лет назад

      @@BigusGeekus I was referencing bestow curse specifically on that, sorry for not being clear. In regards to it, think pinocchio's nose or beauty and the beast for curses. The people casting these curses are not good people at heart, because cursing someone isn't a good act, but they are neutral maybe tending towards evil depending on the severity of the curse. Using any spells I listed definitely puts you on the neutral to evil scale.

  • @kyleellis9177
    @kyleellis9177 5 лет назад +1

    I know you meant the people will think the dave being gone thing as an improvement as a joke but i took it to mean people will like that our skits have improved and like that more. because they have by alot. my gf enjoys the opens alot

    • @Nerdarchy
      @Nerdarchy  5 лет назад

      Great to hear. It's like anything improvement with practice. Obviously some are better than others. We do keep striving to come up with interesting things to do. It's as much for us as it is for the audience.
      Nerdarchist Dave

  • @symbiotespidervenom7120
    @symbiotespidervenom7120 5 лет назад

    O think banishment spells are pretty great, because they split up my parties and make them think of a way to get the member back, although I usually run abnormally large parties with 5 or 6 people, so it's not awful when we lose ~one~

  • @Horusbonrea
    @Horusbonrea 5 лет назад

    Running a 3.5 campaign our druid got dominated and went to attack our paladin standing next to him, he crits with his bone scythe which in 3.5 is 4x. He confirmed it with another 20 and i watched him roll max damage. They were lv 4 and the paladin had 20 hp left at the time so it would have brought him below -10 and this was a one shot campaign so barly past the half way mark off with his head

  • @waltermattiko23
    @waltermattiko23 5 лет назад

    Wish (in a custom campaign, Im playing through as a lich. I've used this spell to do unspeakable things. The potential is beautiful.) Next is blight, finger of death, dominate person, and raise dead. No specific order, no specific reason, they just feel evil for me to cast.

  • @AgentGreen13
    @AgentGreen13 5 лет назад

    From the Bard side of Evil, Tasha's Hideous Laughter. And I'll hold my next action to cast THL if they stop laughing, repeat.

  • @justinharris7181
    @justinharris7181 5 лет назад

    For necromancy I think dance of the dead is a fun one. You create 5 zombies for an hour. So yes you'd be making them an undead but if your a so called good necromancer its not permanent and it would be good use on the enemy. So it has some good roll play.

  • @Lastofthesigilites
    @Lastofthesigilites 2 года назад

    A lawyer with speak with dead would probably be a mandatory thing. Like imagine you can legitimately ask someone what they saw when they died and get their killer.
    Imagine inheritance where your body is straight up asked what should happen to your stuff.

  • @kathrynck
    @kathrynck 5 лет назад

    Good picks in the video :)
    I'd only add that repeated use of Spell Subtlety + Suggestion or Charm, Mantle of Magesty, or just Modify Memory... could all really mind$#@! someone and kinda ruin them mind & soul.
    I think Enemies Abound has enormous potential to be abused for some really horrific evil, I'm afraid to even type out the worst ways it might be used.
    And of course any heal could make torture infinitely worse... I mean, Regenerate especially...

  • @thejamaicanempire3561
    @thejamaicanempire3561 5 лет назад

    The evilness of a spell is proportionate to how much it makes your players cry when they fail the save.

  • @shadycactus6146
    @shadycactus6146 5 лет назад

    i mean, the wording of geas seems to imply that you can just ignore it if you want, as long as you’re willing to take 5d10 damage per day? so it doesn’t seem that bad unless you’re very low level

  • @NinjaSushi2
    @NinjaSushi2 5 лет назад +2

    *Phantasmal Killer*
    Illusion level 4
    Description: The caster conjures an image of utmost horror to strike down a single creature. The target may attempt a will save to disbelieve the spell, avoiding all ill effects. Failing that, the target then makes a fortitude save to avoid instant death. A successful save still inflicts 3d6 points of magical damage.
    *Wierd*
    Illusion level 9.
    Description: A horrible phantasm rises to stand before enemy creatures in the area of effect, causing them to make a will save. If they fail, the phantasm touches them and they must now make a fortitude saving throw. If this saving throw fails, the creature dies. Those who succeed the fortitude save still take 3d6 points of magical damage. Creatures with less than 4 hit dice automatically die, without any saving throws.
    Neverwinter Nights D&D 3.0.
    D&D Beyond is great for us noobs!

    • @jamesforgie6594
      @jamesforgie6594 5 лет назад

      Ninja Sushi those two aren’t too bad by my estimation; they straight up kill you. In my humble opinion the worst spells cause torture or unwilling action. Thus, as mentioned, dominate, geas, etc. as for torture, I count imprison, anything that puts you in an unfavourable position that you cannot escape or be rescued from.

    • @NinjaSushi2
      @NinjaSushi2 5 лет назад

      This scares you to death. Seems pretty awful to me. You cower in such fear your heart burst inside your chest from the adrenaline and you bleed out. Clutching your chest in horror and agony, the light slowly fades from your eyes. The last image you ssw is burned into your eyes .

    • @jamesforgie6594
      @jamesforgie6594 5 лет назад

      Admittedly it’s not a fun way to go, but there are worse. Maybe it’s just me, but dominate scares me.

  • @thekinginyellow7777
    @thekinginyellow7777 5 лет назад +6

    Huh. Was expecting Enervate.

  • @jacobsipes
    @jacobsipes 5 лет назад

    Ted, your hoodie is hilarious.

  • @nandodando9695
    @nandodando9695 5 лет назад

    I NEEDED soul jar!
    I want to play a warrior possessed by a mage.. so the mage can come from the bushed and pick the stuff off my dead body (until I can kidnap another warrior/ story appropriate npc).

  • @aarongrant5367
    @aarongrant5367 4 года назад +1

    "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
    "I do"
    DM: you just consented to a Zone of Truth effect.
    Black's Law dictionary is a book of black magic.

  • @dungeonmasteromega
    @dungeonmasteromega 5 лет назад

    Magic Jar doesn't destroy the target's soul, so a DM could offer an afterlife option, like Gandalf when he had to come back from beyond to aid the heroes in their darkest hour.

  • @LCCWPresents
    @LCCWPresents 5 месяцев назад

    Campaign idea start everybody on the magic jar spell and they get to pick the adventurer they can start as.

  • @SageofCancer
    @SageofCancer 4 года назад

    That'll be six silver and three copper sir!
    Oh you're clever with numbers are you lad?
    Sir?
    [Geas] Become a wizard specialized in necromancy.
    That'll still be six silver and three copper sir!
    Drat.

  • @fireknight4151
    @fireknight4151 5 лет назад

    These may not be ovious evil spell but I think Cloadkill and Heat Metal are some of the most graphic spells in Dungeons And Dragons. One is mustard gas the other is you cooking a person alive in their armor witch they can't get off

  • @RikkaCherri
    @RikkaCherri 5 лет назад +1

    Think the one im thinking of is when our DM twincast blight i think the spell was and almost 1 shot 2 characters

  • @hobbes2555
    @hobbes2555 5 лет назад +1

    Eternity of agony spell 3rd edition book of vile darkness.

  • @honkbrother8000
    @honkbrother8000 5 лет назад

    im sorry but his sweater rated d20 is the best thing ive seen today XD

  • @stormcry8202
    @stormcry8202 3 года назад +1

    Wow, red shirt guy needs to realize that it is time to do something about that hair. Either Bosley or Norelco, pick one.

  • @thejamaicanempire3561
    @thejamaicanempire3561 5 лет назад

    I could never put Geas at the top, sure you take damage if you disobey but it's only once a day. At an average of 25 psychic damage, by 5th level you could disobey, eat the damage and go about your business doing what you want so it's not that big a deal. Now Magic Jar which lets you swap a character's mind out entirely, that's a number 1 spell, or Disintegrate which basically permanently removes your character unless you happen to be in a tier 4 game.

  • @moiramain2k
    @moiramain2k 5 лет назад

    I was dm-ing a game when I did this horrible thing. My players where at a town that was to be under siege by the bbeg the duke had sent a small army under his son's command. The army failed. When the bbeg's undead army arrived he took a prisoner - the duke's son and used finger of death on the son in full view of the town guard, the duke's family, and the party so they could all watch as the beloved son was reduced to a shambling corpse. I then had the younger brother in a fit of rage throw himself at the necromancer uncaring of the forty foot drop in front of him since the brother was well known for all but worshiping the older brother. Luckily the party fighter had the reaction to grab the son so he didn't die. The party is fighting the bbeg this weekend and full of hate for the death of so many including the son I fully expect them to loose there heroism as they butcher the necromancer.
    Is that evil?😈

  • @gabrielrockman
    @gabrielrockman 5 лет назад

    Vicious Mockery is one of the most evil spells. If you use it to deal the killing blow, then you literally insult a monster to death. Of all the ways to kill someone, I would say that killing them through verbal insults is one of the most evil. Honor is important to warriors, and to die due to bludgeoning damage, piercing damage, fire damage, poison damage, necrotic damage, etc. is honorable compared to the dishonor of dying due to psychic damage from Vicious Mockery.

  • @T4N7
    @T4N7 4 года назад

    Meteor Swarm. nothing is more intimating than going Thanos on them

  • @NonComOff
    @NonComOff 5 лет назад

    if you are imprisoned by chaining, can you be killed by damaging your body?

  • @grizzlymanverneteil4443
    @grizzlymanverneteil4443 5 лет назад

    Frogs are always an improvement

  • @hewwoworld4272
    @hewwoworld4272 3 года назад

    my BBEG is a manipulative guy so i gave him manipulative spells... now I've got a enchantment only BBEG

  • @fenixmeaney6170
    @fenixmeaney6170 3 года назад

    Step 1
    Magic jar
    Step 2
    Secretly inform the player that they are now the bbeg inhabiting their old PC's body
    Step 3
    Let the rest of the campaign write itself

  • @TheRedneckGamer1979
    @TheRedneckGamer1979 Год назад

    Dominate has so many more insidious implications. With charm and most charm spells and things that put the charm condition on a target when the spell ends they not only know that they were charmed but the spells all explicitly state that they know WHO charmed them regardless of any circumstance. Dominate does not have this qualifier in any way shape or form, if the target never sees you or never sees you cast the spell there is no part of that spell that gives you away. The target even if they figure out they were charmed has no real way to track it either, you could get someone to murder a fuckload of people, end the spell and just bounce, it will look like all the world that the person under the effects of the domination just went crazy and went on a murder spree.