This is a spell intended for Tunnels & Trolls,but can easily be used with the original Dungeons & Dragons.
Fool's Tools
[Conjuring]
(Snowgen)
| Spell level: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Cost: | 1 per w.u. of created item |
| Range: | Touch |
| Duration: | 1 combat turn or less (see below) |
| Power Up?: | Yes. Double duration for each level increase. |
Description: With this spell, the caster creates the normal, mundane, generic, inanimate object of his choice. Thus the caster could create a bowl but not a mouse; a sword would be acceptable, though a magical sword would not.
Created items must be generic. This a caster could create "a key", but not necessarily "the key that unlocks this door". Likewise she could specify a wooden bowl or even a diamond bowl, but not "the exact copy of that bowl there".
The object is created into the caster's empty hand, and remains in existence for the duration of the spell, or until the object is no longer in contact with the caster, whichever happens first.
When the spell expires no matter the reason, the object vanishes in a small flash of light and a poof of smoke.
Those stuffy wizards who thinks spells need somber names call this spell Ex Nihilo.
Using the Spell in [o]D&D and its OSR Clones
Unsurprisingly the spell needs minimal alteration to work in D&D. Simply ignore the "Cost" and "Power Up?" lines and change duration to read "1 minute per caster level, or less (see below)."
Inspiration
A post in the Frugal GM blog led me to discover the The Gongfarmer's Almanac. Within issue 1, I came across a spell called "Temporary Creation" written by someone named Terry Olson. I liked the idea behind the spell, but thought the implementation was way too complicated for my style of play. My guess is that Temporary Creation developed for Dungeon Crawl Classics, which I guess is a more complicated set of rules.