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Originally posted by Magister Sunstrider

Many thanks, I'll have to see if I can dig those sources up and spin perhaps spin them into something usable. Doesn't seem Secrets of the Magister is a free download at WotC, but hopefully I can find it.

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Originally posted by Ashe Ravenheart

Check out George Krashos' thread. He just posted an article he had been working on for Dragon magazine in 3.5 detailing some spell mantles.

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Originally posted by George Krashos

Through most of 2007 I worked on a massive 3.5E article dealing with FR epic magic and trying to tie in a significant number of lore hooks and information scattered across all of the previous editions and in a bunch of sources. The article was titled: "The Magic of Mantles". The crew at Paizo indicated an interest but the demise of their control of the magazines meant that publishing it that way didn't eventuate. I pitched it to WotC at the time as I was unaware that 4E was about to be announced. With "epic magic" now a thing of the past and noting the significant changes in the Realms, the article as it stands can't be published or re-jigged in 4E terms. So I guess you guys can have a read if you are so inclined.

I note that this article deals with powerful concepts and they may not be particularly 'balanced' from a rules point of view. Also, it was tough melding together all of the various lore on 'mantles' and trying to tie that all together using the framework of epic magic. I guess you guys can tell me how successful it turned out. At the very least, the lore hopefully is worth reading through the article for. So without further ado I give you (broken up into a few posts) ...

THE MAGIC OF MANTLES
By George Krashos

Cloaked in Art we strode across the face of Faerûn like giants, our wizardry clawing at Mystryl’s Weave and propelling us to ever-greater heights of spellhurling. The Archwizards of Netheril they called us, and all trembled under our regard or hid from it like the smallest of scurrying ants. Yet when the hubris of Karsus doomed our greatest bindings, and the vaunted enclaves dropped from the heavens like so many fleeting raindrops, we took stock of what magic remained to us and hoarded it like the most avaricious of dragons. Of all the secrets of magecraft that we had commanded, the only powerful remnant was our mastery of mantles, and we pledged to safeguard this legacy till the day when mighty Netheril would rise to greatness once again.

Thausgras of Orolin, Sage of the Ancients “Musings on the Fall of Netheril”
Year of the Ruling Sceptre (-278 DR)

With the fall of Asram and Anauria, the realm of Hlondath became the last, direct, surviving bastion of Netherese learning and wizardry on the face of Faerûn. Although a society predominately made up of loggers and herders, elements of Hlondite society held onto the legacy of Art passed down to them by their ancestors, the fabled Archwizards of Netheril, and kept it safe for future generations of pureblood Netherese. In the words of Elder Loremaster Kaelendril of Maetharn they “shouldered the birthright of Nether the Elder” and strove to keep alive the teachings and secret lore of their forbears.

With Mystra’s Ban and the inability of human wizards to access true spells of 10th level and higher, many of the surviving arcanists of Netheril returned to their earliest studies of wizardry and the lessons learned from the elves of Illefarn and Eaerlann. In this way the wizards of the Netherese diaspora began intensive studies into the various forms of epic magic and sought to duplicate their earlier mastery of Art by means of this type of spellcasting. Of all the previous heights of Netherese spellcraft, it was the magic of mantles that met with the most success in the testing times following Karsus’ Folly. Alongside the Netherese, the elves of Faerûn had also mastered the magic of mantles through their epic magic traditions known as High Magic. But whereas the Netherese developed and created magical fields to hold and unleash spells, the Fair Folk achieved similar ends through the use of gems known as thaelkiira, which acted as vessels for their mantle magic (see Sidebar).

Mantle magic remained the backbone of Netherese spell lore in the centuries that followed and for many years following the Fall helped such farflung realms as Halruaa, Helbrester and Anauria stave off enemies and rivals as diverse as the phaerimms, the serpentfolk and other grasping “barbarian” humans.

In the present-day Realms is it is believed that save for a few scraps of lore held in the deepest recesses of Candlekeep, the Vault of Sages and Mount Talath in Halruaa, the most comprehensive and complete collection of spell lore regarding mantles is to be found in that rarest of tomes known to loremasters and sages as Mhaelosian Mantles (see Sidebar). This trove of knowledge on the lore and mechanics of mantles has long been lost to Faerûn although many tales and rumors concerning its whereabouts continue to circulate throughout the Realms.

<<BEGIN SIDEBAR>>
Thaelkiira

A thaelkiira is an enchanted gemstone attuned to a particular individual and containing spells that form a mantle. Rare today, these items were created by powerful elven spellcasters, or mages of other races who were privy to the lore and traditions of High Magic.
Lore: Characters can gain the following pieces of information about thaelkiira by making Knowledge (Arcana) or Knowledge (History) checks.
DC 15: Thaelkiira are the legendary “mantle gems” of the ancient elven kingdoms. They were once common among the ranks of the High Magi and powerful noble families.
DC 20: Outside Evermeet and Evereska it is rumored that certain mages such as Malchor Harpell and other senior members of the Harpers may know the process of creating thaelkiira.
DC 25: Lost somewhere in Waterdeep are the spellbooks of the wizard Nunntchlea of Secomber who is rumoured to have created her own mantles using thaelkiira some three hundred winters ago.
DC 30: It is said that there are spells that can augment and enhance the powers of thaelkiira and that only recently a spell that allows a thaelkiira to serve a new bearer changed hands in Skullport for over a million gold coins.

Description: A thaelkiira appears as an unremarkable gemstone of any type, although diamonds are typically the gem of first-choice for most creators of such items. Some thaelkiira are engraved with the personal sigil of the wizard or the symbol of the elven noble house that created them. The enchantment process used to create thaelkiira makes them wonderfully strong, rendering them as hard as adamantine (hardness 20, 5 hps).

Effects: A thaelkiira creates an invisible mantle of spells that covers the bearer, who must be an arcane spellcaster, and all items worn or held solely by him. Thaelkiira function only for the being that they are attuned to. Such an attunement process requires an individual to pay 2,000 XP and permanently lose 1 hit point. In addition, the bearer of a thaelkiira suffers 1d6 +1 hit points of damage each day in which any spell contained within the item’s mantle is used (such damage can be healed normally or through magic).
Thaelkiira can contain a single spell of each spell level the bearer can access (i.e. a 3rd-level wizard attuned to a thaelkiira could have his mantle contain the 1st-level spell shield and the 2nd-level spell flaming sphere. A 3rd-level sorcerer however, would only be able to have his mantle contain the 1st-level spell shield.) Thaelkiira “grow” with the increasing personal powers of those individuals attuned to them, being augmented spell level by spell level as the wearer grows magically stronger (a loss of magical ability such as level drain does not however diminish or otherwise alter existing spells contained within the mantle of a thaelkiira, but may affect the bearer’s ability to replace such spells.)

Only spells that have not been affected by metamagic feats can be stored in the mantle of a thaelkiira. Spells may be cast into the thaelkiira at any time to replace spells that have been cast from the item’s mantle by the bearer. Only the bearer of the thaelkiira can replace spells that have been cast from it and must provide any material components or focus, or pay any XP cost associated with casting such a spell at the time the spell is cast into the mantle.
The mantle created by a thaelkiira allows the bearer to cast any spell stored in it as a swift action (see Sidebar). The bearer of a thaelkiira must be in direct physical contact with the gem to cast spells from its mantle. In addition, the virtue of casting spells from the mantle of a thaelkiira is that all spells contained within it are considered to be epic spells (i.e. 10th-level) for the purposes of spell resistance and other possible situations where spell level is important.

Aura/Caster Level: Strong evocation; CL 21st.
Construction: Craft Wondrous Item, Craft Epic Wondrous Item, Quicken Spell, imbue with spell ability, wish, 354,375 gp, 28,350 XP.
Price: 708,750 gp
<<END SIDEBAR>>

<<START SIDEBAR>>
Mhaelosian Mantles

In the Year of the Broken Lands (191 DR), the arcanist Eltraggar, Mage Royal of Hlondath collected the spell lore of mantles into a single libram of inestimable worth titled Mhaelosian Mantles. This tome of Art was said to describe in exacting detail the nature and function of spell mantles and provide the means and understanding to allow epic spellcasters to create one or more of these legendary spell fields for which the arcanists of Netheril were so famous. Eltraggar is known to have perished at the hands of a young Hastos Auglamyr at the Battle of Crowns Aflame during the Crown and Scepter Wars between Cormanthyr and Hlondath, but the whereabouts of his most coveted libram of spell lore died with him. Hlondath was abandoned in 329 DR as the Great Desert of Anauroch spread east, killing that realm’s fields and livestock, and while adventurers and treasure-hunters explored much of ruined Mhaelos in the fifth century of Dalereckoning, no word was ever received about the discovery of Mhaelosian Mantles, nor its likely whereabouts.

Many years later, the tome was noted as being in the possession of a young mage named Aubayreer Mindosel who was apprenticed to Agannazar of Neverwinter in the Year of the Lissome Apprentice (461 DR). Aubayreer was the son of a minor lordling of the realm of Teshar, a land that was founded by human settlers of Hlondath in the cleared lands between Rystall Wood and Cormanthor in the Year of Leather Shields (-75 DR). How the tome came into Aubayreer’s possession remains a mystery to this day. Travelling west, it is said that Aubayreer was accepted as an apprentice at the School of Wizardry in Neverwinter after trading knowledge found in Mhaelosian Mantles for his position there. Whilst in Neverwinter, Aubayreer received tutelage from the aforementioned Agannazar and his colleagues in magery, Illykur, Presper and Grimwald, who would found the wizard cabal known as the Covenant in the years to come.

Aubayreer remained in the North for several decades, building his skill in the Art, before returning to the lands of the Inner Sea. Teshar had fallen in 479 DR to raids and assaults from the drow of the Twisted Tower, so the kinless and landless Aubayreer travelled to Myth Drannor where he was apprenticed for a time to Saerangol the Hooded One. Aubayreer subsequently left the City of Song after a handful of years and travelled further east, working as a mage-for-hire in Impiltur and briefly studying under Lerthaun Durlarven, uncle of the reigning king of Impiltur, Harandil I.

In the Year of the Upright Man (535 DR), Aubayreer gathered a host of young, landless Impilturian nobles and led them across the Sea of Dlurg, to the foothills of the Dragonjaw Mountains. There he founded the realm of Milvarn, with its capital Milvarune, and established the first permanent human settlement in the Dragonjaw Mountains since the time of Narfell. In the centuries that followed, Milvarn continued to prosper under the guiding hand of Aubayreer’s wizard-ruler descendants, and close ties with surrounding lands were fostered and strengthened. These ties culminated in the marriage of Spell-Prince Elthar, heir to the throne of Milvarn, to Queen Thara of Aglarond in 1237 DR. Elthar was slain at the hands of unknown assassins in the Year of Pain (1245 DR) but given his younger brother Khalreer’s lack of talent for the Art, it is thought that the aged Jholnareer, Mage-King of Milvarn, entrusted much spell lore and secret magic, including Mhaelosian Mantles, to the Grey Sisters of Aglarond. In this fashion, the Simbul chanced upon this mighty legacy of Netheril when she came to serve the throne of Aglarond, and used it to awesome effect in the years that followed to defend the realm against the evil wizardry of Thay.

In the Year of the Leaping Dolphin (1331 DR), the mage Alamanther was destroyed in a great spellbattle against a trio of unknown Red Wizards of Thay. It is believed that the Simbul had entrusted Mhaelosian Mantles to him, bidding Alamanther to study it and keep it safe in the tower of his former master Ustragus in Altumbel. Despite Alamanther’s death, the tome did not fall into the hands of the Red Wizards, for none had any knowledge of it when interrogated over the next handful of years by a vengeful Simbul. In fact, knowledge of the whereabouts of Mhaelosian Mantles was one of the great mysteries of Faerûn for many years afterward until the Year of the Tankard (1370 DR) when it was offered for sale almost half a world-away in the great beholder city of Ooltul, deep beneath the sands of Anauroch. The would-be seller, whom some observers described as a dusky-skinned male elf with serpent-like eyes, disappeared soon after and Mhaelosian Mantles with him. The book’s current location remains a mystery and it is well-known that the Simbul is driven to recover this trove of Netherese spell lore, no matter the cost. Those who handle the tome or learn of its whereabouts should expect a visit from this most volatile of the Chosen of Mystra.
<<END SIDEBAR>>

Continued ...

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by George Krashos

Part 2 - The Game Mechanics

CREATING A MANTLE

Presented here is a new epic spellcasting seed used to create mantles. This seed details the method of calculating the Spellcraft DCs for such epic spells.

SEED: MANTLE
(Evocation)
Spellcraft DC: 24
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 7 days (D)

You create a lasting magical field centred on, and moving with you. You can then cast a number of spells into this field. Effects that you can include in your mantle fall into two categories: personal spells (spells that affect the mantle wearer only) and trigger spells (spells that can be cast from the mantle against other targets or areas). A mantle cannot contain both personal and trigger spells.

An individual can only ever have a single mantle spell in effect at any one time upon his person. A mantle is usually visible only as a momentary shimmering in the air around the caster but through the ages, the appearance of mantles has differed greatly. A mantle persists about all parts of the caster’s body, regardless of wakefulness or slumber, consciousness or damage or even being feebleminded, and lasts until the duration expires, the spells contained within it are all expended, or the caster dies or dismisses it. It extends to cover all items the caster wears or directly carries, but does not remain with items that are dropped or left behind.

The creator of a mantle must cast the spells to be contained within it himself. Only spells of level 9 or lower can be cast into a mantle. Further, only spells unaffected by metamagic feats may be cast into a mantle. The virtue of a mantle however is that all spells contained within it are considered to be epic spells (i.e 10th-level) when ‘cast’ from it for the purpose of Saving Throw and Spell Resistance calculations and also when other spellcasters attempt to dispel or counter them.

Once created, a mantle cannot be dispelled, disjoined or suppressed by any non-epic spell. A character attempting to dispel your mantle with an epic spell (such as superb dispelling) must succeed on a caster level check (DC 21 + your caster level) to succeed. An antimagic field does not automatically suppress a mantle as it does standard spells. Instead, each time a mantle is subject to an antimagic field, make a dispel check as a 20th-level caster (1d20 + 20). The mantle has a DC of 11 + the epic spell’s spellcaster level. If the dispel check is successful, the mantle is suppressed like any other spell. If the dispel check is unsuccessful, the mantle and the spells contained within it, function normally.

MANTLE COMPONENTS

Each mantle is defined by the particular spells it contains and the mode in which they are set to operate. The number of spells contained within a mantle, their type (personal or trigger) and the mode in which they are to be cast affect the Spellcraft DC of your mantle spell (see Table 1-1 Mantle Spell Costs). Additionally, the Spellcraft DC may also be increased by the value of any epic spell factors (such as multiple spell targets) from Table 2-2 in the Epic Level Handbook that may apply. The “Change from Personal to Area” epic spell factor noted in Table 2-2 can never be applied to epic spells created by the mantle seed.

The types of spells that may be contained within a mantle are detailed as follows:

Personal Spells: Personal spells can be ‘cast’ by the mantle wearer on himself as a swift action (see Sidebar). The spell or spells contained within a mantle must be ones that have a personal range or fixed range (for example, comprehend languages or detect magic). You must make all the decisions necessary for a personal spell upon creating your mantle, just as if you were creating a use-activated magic item. A personal spell may be made permanent, that is it operates continuously after it is cast, for the duration of the mantle. You need not concentrate on spells such as detect magic or detect thoughts to be aware of the mere presence or absence of the thing detected, but the caster must still concentrate to gain additional information as normal. Concentration on such a spell is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

A personal spell that would normally end after its capacity has been reached (such as stoneskin, protection from energy, or spell turning) cannot be made permanent but may instead be designated as a renewable personal spell. Such a spell confers its benefit on a mantle wearer only once per day. When its effect is exhausted through whatever means are normal for the specific spell, it does not renew itself on the mantle wearer until 24 hours after the first time its benefits are used (the first time that damage was negated by a stoneskin or protection from energy, for example). If the spell’s benefits have not yet been exhausted by that time, the effect continues until it is exhausted and is then immediately renewed. The caster must designate which personal spells if any are to be made permanent or renewable at the time the mantle is created (see Table 1.1).

In addition, the creator of a mantle may elect at the time a mantle is created to have any personal spell that has been designated as permanent or renewable, also designated as quiescent. A quiescent spell can be ‘turned off’ by the caster, causing its effect(s) to cease to operate, once in any 24 hour period. Such an action and the reactivation of the personal spell after a period of quiescence require a standard action on the part of the spellcaster. The period of quiescence lasts for as long as the caster desires, but cannot exceed 24 hours. Should a caster fail to re-activate a quiescent personal spell within 24 hours, then that spell is lost from that particular mantle permanently.

<<BEGIN SIDEBAR>>
Swift Actions
The Miniatures Handbook introduced the concept of a new action type: the swift action. The mantle seed uses this concept and how such actions work is as follows:

Swift Action: A swift action consumes a very small amount of time, but represents a larger expenditure of effort and energy than a free action. You can perform one swift action per turn without affecting your ability to perform other actions. In that regard, a swift action is like a free action. However, you can perform only a single swift action per turn, regardless of what other actions you take. You can take a swift action any time you would normally be allowed to take a free action. Swift actions usually involve magic or psionics, or the activation of magic or psionic items; many characters (especially those who don’t use magic or psionics) never have an opportunity to take a swift action.

Casting a quickened spell is a swift action. In addition, casting any spell with a casting time of 1 swift action is a swift action also. Casting a spell with a casting time of 1 swift action does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
<<END SIDEBAR>>

Trigger Spells: Trigger spells are activated by silent act of will as a swift action, just as if they were a spell trigger magic item in the user’s possession. Trigger spells can be cast ‘from’ the mantle, one per combat round until they are all exhausted, whereupon the mantle ceases to exist, or they can be linked together to cast themselves in a pre-set sequence over a number of rounds equal to the number of spells contained within the mantle (called a sequence chain), or alternatively all at once (called a trigger barrage). A mantle cannot contain spells that are set to be cast both in a sequence chain and in a trigger barrage.

Further, if the creator of a mantle does not wish to have his entire roster of trigger spells linked by means of a sequence chain or trigger barrage, he may instead elect to have any two of them linked in such a fashion (described as a selective sequence chain or selective trigger barrage). Just which trigger spells are to be linked by such a selective sequence chain or trigger barrage need not be determined at the time the mantle is created. The creator of the mantle may select the two particular trigger spells to be linked by either the selective sequence chain or selective trigger barrage as they are ‘cast’ by the mantle. However, unlike normal sequence chains or trigger barrages, such linked spells are cast as a standard action, not a swift action. The creator of the mantle must choose which of these three special options regarding trigger spells (if any) apply to such spells contained within his mantle when the epic spell creating this magical field is researched, created and ultimately cast.

TABLE 1-1: MANTLE SPELL FACTORS

Component DC Component Cost
Personal spell Spell level

Trigger spell Spell level x 2

Sequence chain(1) Spell level of sequence chain x 3

Trigger barrage(2) Spell level of trigger barrage x 4

Permanent/Renewable Spell level x 5
Personal Spell

Make Quiescent +5 per spell

Selective Sequence Chain +20

Selective Trigger Barrage +40

1: Sequence Chain: This Spellcraft DC modifier applies to sequence chains containing five spells or less. If the sequence chain contains six to ten spells then the DC multiplier is x6 for those additional spells numbering above five, and for eleven to fifteen spells it is x9 for those spells above ten, and so on. For sequence chains containing more than five spells, the highest level spell in the chain has the greater Spellcraft DC multiplier attached to it.

2: Trigger Barrage: This Spellcraft DC modifier applies to trigger barrages containing three spells or less. If the trigger barrage contains four to six spells then the multiplier is x8 for those additional spells numbering above three, and for seven to nine spells it is x12 for those spells above six, and so on. For trigger barrages containing more than three spells, the highest level spell in the chain has the greater Spellcraft DC multiplier attached to it.

The Spellcraft DC of an epic spell created using the Mantle seed can be reduced by various mitigating factors (from Table 2-3 in the Epic Level Handbook) as well as other mitigating factors unique to mantles (see Table 1.2 below).

TABLE 1-2: SPECIAL MITIGATING FACTORS FOR MANTLES

Mitigating Factor Cost Adjustment
Lifeleech -40
Sacrifice Spell See Table1-3 and below
Spelldrain -20
Dweomerpurge -10

Lifeleech: A spellcaster can choose to link his mantle to his own personal vitality. If he does so, he suffers 1 point of Constitution damage per day his mantle is in existence. The caster cannot avoid or somehow make himself immune to the ability damage suffered as a result of lifeleech. Similarly, such ability damage is not curable by means of spells such as restoration or wish while the mantle remains in existence.

Sacrifice Spell: A spellcaster can choose to sacrifice his own spell slots to reduce the Spellcraft DC of a particular mantle spell. The spellcaster may sacrifice multiple spell slots, but only one spell slot per spell level he is able to cast. A sacrificed spell slot is treated as if normally cast and remains so for the duration of the mantle spell. The spellcaster may contribute either a prepared, uncast spell slot, or an open, unprepared slot. The Spellcraft DC adjustments for each sacrificed spell slot stack and are detailed in Table 1.3 below.

TABLE 1-3: SPELL SLOTS SACRIFICED

Spell Slot Level Sacrificed/Spellcraft DC Reduction

1st –1 6th –6
2nd –2 7th –7
3rd –3 8th –8
4th –4 9th –9
5th –5 Epic slot –10

Spelldrain: A spellcaster may reduce the Spellcraft DC of his mantle by having it “drink” a random spell or spell slot (not chosen by the caster but “taken” by the mantle) of any level from the caster’s mind when the mantle is raised and every 24 hours thereafter, for its duration. If a spell or spell slot is unavailable to the mantle, it collapses immediately.

Dweomerpurge: When a mantle spell ends due to either the expiration of its duration or the spellcaster willing it to collapse, he may elect to have it strip away any spells or spell effects functioning on him at the time. The spellcaster is affected as if targeted by a greater dispel magic with no dispel check required.

Continued in part 3 ...

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by George Krashos

PART 3 - The Epic Spells

MANTLE SPELLS

Many spellcasters of the Forgotten Realms have studied the lore and history of mantles through the ages. Powerful wizards such as Shaaan “the Serpent Queen” and Hesperdan of the Zhentarim are rumored to have mastered the creation of mantles using epic magic, while the Simbul is the most prominent exponent of such magic in the Realms today. Detailed below are a number of epic spells created using the mantle seed. DMs and players should feel free to create their own epic mantle spells using the guidelines noted above and the examples given below.

Alustriel’s Queenmantle
Evocation
Spellcraft DC: 35
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 20 minutes
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 7 days
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
To Develop: 315,000 gp; 7 days; 12,600 XP. Seed: mantle (DC 24). Factors: four permanent personal spells (3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th level spells) (+95 DC), two spells can be made quiescent (+10 DC). Mitigating factors: burn 1,000 XP (-10 DC), increase casting time by 10 minutes (-20 DC), sacrifice 9th, 8th and 7th level spell slots (-24 DC), lifeleech (-40 DC).

Alustriel’s Queenmantle manifests around her as a field of shimmering, winking, sparkling lights that hover or glide around her skin and clothes. The field is barely noticeable in bright light, but readily apparent in moonlight or more poorly lit conditions.

This mantle contains the spells Nezram’s amethyst auraLE, greater resistance shard blessing auraCV and ironguardSC which can be cast one per round as a swift action. Once cast, they benefit the spellcaster on a continuous basis for the spell’s duration. In addition, Alustriel has designated that the spells shard blessing auraCV and ironguardSC as quiescent spells.

Alustriel is reputed to be able to cast her Queenmantle through a boon from the goddess of magic Mystra, while other loremasters reckon that her skill in the Art exceeds that which is usually attributed to her by friends and foes alike.

Belorigar’s Baldric
Evocation
Spellcraft DC: 44
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 20 minutes
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 7 days
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
To Develop: 396,000 gp; 8 days; 15,840 XP. Seed: mantle (DC 24). Factors: six trigger spells (3rd through to 8th level) (+66 DC), selective trigger barrage (+40 DC). Mitigating factors: burn 3,000 XP (-30 DC), increase casting time by 10 minutes (-20 DC), sacrifice 8th, 7th, 6th and 5th level spell slots (-26 DC), dweomerpurge (-10 DC).

This spell appears as a faint, shimmering ribbon of “nothingness” that moves with the caster and floats just above his shoulders. The mantle emits a momentary flash of light when spells contained within it are unleashed by the spellcaster.

This spell dates back to the time of ancient Netheril and was once one of the most well-known spells of its type. However modern-day liches and spellcasters taught from ancient grimoires may use quite different variants of this standard spell.

This spell brings into being an invisible mantle which contains six offensive trigger spells of levels three through to eight. These trigger spells can be cast one per round as a swift action. The spellcaster also has the option of unleashing any two of these trigger spells at the same target in a selective barrage chain as a standard action. The most common version of this particular mantle contains the spells lightning bolt, Evard’s black tentacles, cone of cold, disintegrate, prismatic spray and power word stun.

Saldrinar’s Doomchain
Evocation
Spellcraft DC: 35
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 20 minutes
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 7 days
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
To Develop: 315,000 gp; 7 days; 12,600 XP. Seed: mantle (DC 24). Factors: seven spells (2 x 3rd, 2 x 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th level spells) in a sequence chain (+141 DC). Mitigating factors: burn 5,000 XP (-50 DC), increase casting time by 10 minutes (-20 DC), lifeleech (-40 DC), spelldrain (-20 DC).

This mantle manifests as an orbiting “crown” of seven, golden, sparkling lights that rotate around the spellcaster’s head, much like ioun stones. The starpoints wink out as each spell contained within the mantle is cast.

This powerful spell was devised by the wizard Saldrinar of the Seven Spells to conquer Kisonraathiisar, the topaz dragon ruler of Westgate, and win himself the dragon’s throne as that city’s first human king. Many tales of the Dragon Coast speak of the secret spell cache left behind by Saldrinar, who disappeared mysteriously after some forty-two years on the throne. This spell cache is believed to hold the secrets of Saldrinar’s research into mantles.

This spell creates a mantle containing seven offensive spells, linked together in a sequence chain which casts a single spell per round, one after the other, in a set order. All of the spells contained within the mantle are cast at a single target chosen by the spellcaster when the sequence chain is unleashed. The casting of all the spells contained within the mantle ends this spell. Similarly, should the target of the sequence chain move out of range of the spell or spells to be cast, the mantle collapses and ceases to exist. Saldrinar’s sequence of spells, which helped bring down the great topaz dragon, is reputed to have been dimensional lock, howling chainPG, brittleskinSS, steelstingCS, backlashMag, lightning bolt, and shroud of flamePG.

The Simbul’s Spellstorm
Evocation
Spellcraft DC: 36
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 20 minutes
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 7 days
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
To Develop: 326,000 gp; 7 days; 13,040 XP. Seed: mantle (DC 24). Factors: four spells (5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th level spells) in a trigger barrage (+136 DC), add three extra targets (+6 DC). Mitigating factors: burn 5,000 XP (-50 DC), increase casting time by 10 minutes (-20 DC), sacrifice 9th, 8th and 7th level spell slots (-24 DC), lifeleech (-40 DC), spelldrain (-20 DC).

This mantle spell has no observable manifestation when cast but causes the spellcaster’s eyes to shine forth with a shining, silver brightness when the spells stored within the mantle are unleashed.

The Simbul crafted this epic spell many winters ago and it has brought doom to countless Red Wizards of Thay ever since. It is believed that she has also crafted lesser versions of her Spellstorm but this version remains the most well known to sages and observers of the doings of the Witch-Queen of Aglarond.

This spell creates a mantle containing four offensive spells of levels five through to eight, linked together in a trigger barrage. This mantle allows the spellcaster to cast all four spells at once by silent act of will and as a swift action. Doing so causes the mantle to collapse after the trigger barrage has been unleashed. The Simbul is believed to customarily wear a mantle that contains the spells feeblemind, chain lightning, Mordenkainen’s sword and polar ray.

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Forgotten Realms and Non-Core References

Several Forgotten Realms and other D&D supplements are referenced in this article in the form of a superscript abbreviation of the book’s title. The books and their abbreviations are as follows: City of Splendors: Waterdeep (CS), Champions of Valor (CV), Lost Empires of Faerûn (LE), Magic of Faerûn (Mag), Player’s Guide to Faerûn (PG), Shining South (SS) and Spell Compendium (SC).
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So there you have it. I hope you enjoy the article. I note that I never got any significant feedback on whether it was "doable" in terms of game mechanics. But it was fun coming up with the concepts.

All feedback welcome.

-- George Krashos

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