Orisons (PSC)

In the 1st Edition, priest cantrips, or orisons, existed only in the pages of Dragon magazine. In the 2nd Edition, they received an updated treatment only with the advent of the Player ‘s Option: Spells & Magic book. In the meantime, the whole cantrip rule system had been replaced by a single 1st level spell that allowed the caster as many different minor effects as desired within a long period of time (8 hours). The 2nd Edition orison spell, as well as a new related spell, protection from orisons, is given in the main text. The 1st Edition orisons are presented here as examples of what a priest might do with the 2nd Edition orison spell. In the 1st Edition rules, a seg­ment was  ¹⁄₂ of a round.

Orisons are minor spells learned by apprentice priests during their long, rigorous, and tedious training for their calling. An aspiring priest can use one orison per day as a 0-level postulant (-2,000 XP to -1,001 XP), two orisons per day as a 0-level petitioner (-1,000 to -501), and three orisons per day as a 0-level aspirant (-500 to -1). Orisons are memorized just as are higher-level spells

Most orisons are simple little spells of no great effect. When the individual becomes a 1st level priest, these small magics are usually ignored in favor of the more powerful spells then available. However, a priest may choose to retain up to two orisons in place of one 1st level spell.

All orisons are 0 level, have a 10-yard range, and have a generally small area of effect. They require only soft, simple verbal and somatic com­ponents, and are cast in a very short time ( ¹⁄₆ to 2 segments). They manifest as a brief burst of magic that quickly fades, leaving at most a minor physi­cal change that persists until altered by time or labor. Only orisons that involve living creatures allow any saving throw. Also, orisons do not gen­erally break states of extreme concentration (such as when casting a spell). The effects of orisons, and the people and items affected by them, radiate a very faint magical aura that lasts for no more than a turn once the magic fades.

The orisons in this section are grouped accord­ing to whether they are cast by clerics (including specialty priests) or by druids (including barbarian or savage priests) or by both. Over time, the druids have gotten far more attention than clerics with respect to orisons. That imbalance has been par­tially addressed here by making more of these available to the cleric and bolstering that list by the addition of a few suitable spells from the wizard cantrip list. Two new ideas from Ed Greenwood round out the list. Also, spheres for all orisons are given in parentheses after their names for those DMs who want to make up orison lists of their own.

Casting Orisons In 1st Edition Campaigns

Orisons are cast the same way that spells are cast. Up to two orisons can be cast during any round by a single priest. Furthermore, the moment of casting in the round of casting is dependent on the usual factors: surprise, initia­tive, and so on. After the first of the two orisons is cast, the priest player rolls a four-sided die to determine how many segments later he or she can cast the second orison (if so desired). It is not possible to cast both a spell and an orison during the same round, no matter how short the casting times are.

Researching or Finding Orisons

Beginning with 2nd Edition, orison effects are usually specified on the spot by the priest; thus, no research is necessary. However, some orison effects might become available through the discovery of ancient tomes. A priest who finds an orison in such a tome must study the pages describing it for at least a week before being able to cast the found orison successfully. If the priest comes from a nonliterate culture, then a similar period of withdrawal for intense meditation and suitable sacrifice to the divine patron for direct illumination may be sufficient. If the 1st Edition rules are used, or if the DM allows char­acters to develop special variant orisons that only they can cast, then an orison is assumed to be one-half level for the purpose of magical research.

List of Orisons

Orisons in italics are new.

Name	Type	Sphere	School
Aspiration	All	All	Invocation
Benediction	All	All	Conjuration/Summoning
Bless Meal	All	All	Alteration
Ceremony: Oath	All	All	Conjuration/Summoning
Consecrate	All	All	Invocation
Cure Minor Wounds	All	Healing	Divination
Dowse	All	Divination	Divination
Freshen	All	All	Alteration
Haze	All	Protection, Weather	Alteration
Judgement	All	Divination	Divination
Malediction	All	Charm	Conjuration/Summoning
Parch	All	Elemental Water	Enchantment
Petition	All	All	Conjuration/Summoning
Preserve	All	Protection	Alteration
Quench	All	Elemental Water	Enchantment
Temperature	All	Protection, Weather	Alteration
Watch	All	All, Animal, Guardian	Conjuration/Summoning
Candle	Cleric Orison	Creation	Conjuration
Canticle	Cleric Orison	Protection	Abjuration
Chill	Cleric Orison	Creation	Evocation
Clean	Cleric Orison	Protection, Travelers	Abjuration
Disinfect	Cleric Orison	Healing	Necromancy
Dry	Cleric Orison	Elemental Water	Abjuration
Handfire	Cleric Orison	Combat	Evocation
Incense	Cleric Orison	Charm	Illusion/Phantasm
Meditation	Cleric Orison	Charm	Conjuration/Summoning
Mouse	Cleric Orison	Animal, Summoning	Summoning
Polish	Cleric Orison	Protection	Alteration
Remove Pain	Cleric Orison	Healing	Necromantic
Restful Sleep	Cleric Orison	Necromantic, Travelers	Necromantic
Shine	Cleric Orison	Protection	Abjuration
Stone	Cleric Orison	Combat	Enchantment
Tweak	Cleric Orison	Summoning	Conjuration
Warding	Cleric Orison	Protection	Abjuration
Warm	Cleric Orison	Creation	Evocation
Animal	Druid Orison	Animal	Conjuration/Summoning
Animal Command	Druid Orison	Animal	Enchantment/Charm
Bird Call	Druid Orison	Animal	Evocation
Cause Rash	Druid Orison	Plant	Necromancy
Disguise Scent	Druid Orison	Animal	Alteration
Drywood	Druid Orison	Plant	Abjuration
Edible Plant	Druid Orison	Plant	Divination
Elemental Shield	Druid Orison	Elemental	Abjuration
Find a Stray	Druid Orison	Animal	Divination
Flamefinger	Druid Orison	Elemental Fire	Alteration
Heal Rash	Druid Orison	Plant	Necromancy
Holly Dart	Druid Orison	Plant	Alteration
Humidity	Druid Orison	Weather	Alteration
Liven	Druid Orison	Plant	Alteration
Mark Path	Druid Orison	Plant, Travelers	Enchantment
Pet	Druid Orison	Animal	Enchantment/Charm
Prod	Druid Orison	Weather	Evocation
Repel Insects	Druid Orison	Animal	Alteration
Ripen	Druid Orison	Plant	Alteration
Smokeball	Druid Orison	Elemental Fire	Alteration
Test Soil	Druid Orison	Plant	Divination