If you’re new here, heads up that this post is in reference to my Magic Word system. Perhaps I ought to create a new category for all of these magic word posts. I’m producing quite the library on the subject.
Anyway, last time I wrote about Magic Words, I created a d100 list of words I felt were evocative enough to make good spells out of. But with only 100 places to fill, the list obviously only scratched the surface of gameable spell words. It’s a good start, but sticking with such a small list for any length of time is a disservice to the system. The whole point is to draw upon the whole of human language to create weird, personalized spells.
Ideally, I’d like to create an array of tables. Each with some different theme. You could then roll on a master table to determine which of the more detailed sub-tables you roll on. In the end I’ll have more words than a dozen Magic Users could learn in a lifetime! Maybe I’ll collect them in a PoD book. A magic dictionary or sorts.
Obviously you could just use a real dictionary, and it can work. But there are so many words that just don’t make interesting spells, and it starts to get old when you generate word after word that just doesn’t work. Look, I’ll pull 10 random words off Wiktionary: Hibernicism, Plethysmography, Aggrieved, Philippic, Stanchel, Pelleted, Animalism, Palestra, Verbarlokao, Quintile.
It might be fun to integrate a few such esoteric words into a spell list. But I think players would get fed up pretty quickly if those 10 words above were the first 10 words they got. The list needs to be curated somewhat, ergo my reduction of the entire animal kingdom down to about 100 of the more recognizable and evocative names.
Also, I recognize that if you’re not interested in the Magic Word system, the deluge of d100 word lists might put you off the site. So I’m going to combine two lists into each post, and I’m going to make sure that these lists aren’t posted back-to back. Hopefully that should prevent you from feeling like you’re drowning in lists of vaguely related words.
d100 Creature Names Animal spells are cool. Plus this could double as a d100 table of animals! Not sure why you’d need that, but if you do, here you go.
- Albatross
- Ant
- Antelope
- Ape
- Armadillo
- Baboon
- Badger
- Barracuda
- Bat
- Beetle
- Bear
- Beaver
- Bloodhound
- Boar
- Bull
- Butterfly
- Camel
- Cat
- Centipede
- Chameleon
- Cheetah
- Cockroach
- Coyote
- Crocodile
- Deer
- Dog
- Donkey
- Duck
- Eagle
- Elephant
- Elk
- Falcon
- Ferret
- Fish
- Fly
- Fox
- Frog
- Giraffe
- Goat
- Gorilla
- Grasshopper
- Hedgehog
- Hermit Crab
- Hawk
- Honey Bee
- Horse
- Hummingbird
- Hyena
- Iguana
- Jellyfish
- Jackal
- Kangaroo
- Lemur
- Lion
- Lobster
- Magpie
- Mole
- Mongoose
- Moose
- Monkey
- Mule
- Octopus
- Opossum
- Ostrich
- Otter
- Owl
- Ox
- Panther
- Pig
- Parrot
- Peacock
- Platypus
- Porcupine
- Rabbit
- Racoon
- Ram
- Rat
- Rattlesnake
- Rhinoceros
- Scorpion
- Shark
- Sheep
- Skunk
- Sloth
- Snake
- Sponge
- Spider
- Squid
- Squirrel
- Stingray
- Stork
- Seal
- Swan
- Tortoise
- Tiger
- Vulture
- Wasp
- Whale
- Wolf
- Yak
d100 Evil-ish words Because I have a natural inclination towards evil casters. Most of these could be used for non-evil spells I’m sure, they’re just evocatively evil in my mind.
- Abyss
- Ailment
- Addict
- Apocalypse
- Anger
- Bane
- Blight
- Chain
- Chaos
- Corrupt
- Cowardice
- Curse
- Cheat
- Crime
- Cult
- Cabal
- Damn
- Death
- Disembowel
- Doom
- Devil
- Demon
- Desecrate
- Decimate
- Disgust
- Evil
- Eviscerate
- Eldritch
- Envy
- Execute
- Fester
- Forbidden
- Feculent
- Fear
- Grief
- Greed
- Ghoul
- Grave
- Hate
- Hell
- Horror
- Harm
- Immoral
- Infernal
- Justify
- Judge
- Kill
- Lament
- Lie
- Leprous
- Lust
- Leech
- Lurk
- Lash
- Masochism
- Monster
- Nightmare
- Obstruct
- Offend
- Ooze
- Orphan
- Object
- Obsequious
- Pact
- Pain
- Plague
- Pride
- Quiet
- Ravage
- Rashness
- Rot
- Rupture
- Ruin
- Revenge
- Sadism
- Savage
- Seethe
- Shadow
- Summon
- Sinister
- Steal
- Sorrow
- Sin
- Sloth
- Slave
- Torture
- Torment
- Threaten
- Undead
- Violent
- Vampire
- Vile
- Vulgarity
- Vanity
- Wail
- Wither
- Wrack
- Wrath
- Zeal
- Zombie
Using the two tables together was rather humorous. These were randomly generated.
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Ostrich Bane
Camel Envy
Elk Ooze
Ferret Hell
Skunk Threaten
“Ostrich Bane” causes the target to be completely incapable of knowing when they’ve adequately hidden themselves.
“Camel’s Envy” is a spell which gives you a devastating spit attack.
“Elk Ooze” summons a fairly icky monster of the same name.
“Ferret Hell” causes flaming ferrets to go crazy inside the target’s clothing.
“Threat of Skunks” is a conditional curse. “Do/don’t do X, or a skunk will spray you every day”