Snilloc's snowball swarm

Snilloc's snowball swarm, also just snowball swarm, was a spell that generated an explosion of snowballs that covered a ten-foot (three-meter) radius area. An older version of this spell covered a 30 ft (9 m) radius but did less damage.

Effect
When the caster finished the spell, those within the area felt an unnatural chill. This cold dissipated suddenly as a barrage of snowballs burst forth.

The caster could choose the center of the explosion and was subject to being struck if within the area of effect. Snowballs were normal missiles, but there were so many moving so fast that only the very dexterous could even hope to avoid getting hit as snowballs spattered on every solid object, such as walls and ceilings. However, the spell was not capable of damaging the hulls of spelljammers.

Components
Verbal, somatic, and material components were required to cast this spell, including a piece of ice or a small chip of white rock. The material component of the earlier version of the spell was either ice or a single pearl.

History
This spell was created by the mage Snilloc. He placed this spell in the tome The Collected Wisdom of Snilloc. Eventually the tome was stolen and this spell was copied and appeared throughout the Realms. This spell was also in the pamphlet Volo's Guide to All Things Magical published at the start of 1369 DR. This spell quickly passed into the ranks of the Zhentarim and most of their mages had access to this spell. The Red Wizards of Thay quite often placed this spell on scrolls.