Bigby's crushing hand

Bigby's crushing hand was an evocation spell that created a hand of force to grapple, block, push, or squeeze an opponent. Clerics who cast this spell named it for their deity&mdash;Loviatar's crushing hand, for example. To Zakharan mages, always reluctant to acknowledge ajami names and accomplishments, the spell was known simply as crushing hand, and counted among the spells of the universal province.

Effects
This spell was one of the Bigby's hand family of spells. It created a hand about the size of an ogre or about 10 ft (3 m) tall with a splayed finger span of about the same distance (earlier versions could be even larger  ) that could be used to block, push, or grab and squeeze a creature. All versions of this spell relied on the caster's senses to detect and locate a target, the fist did not have senses of its own. But once a target was designated, the hand would unerringly stick with the target regardless of invisibility, polymorphing, darkness, or other means of concealment or disguise.

The earliest versions never missed the target once it was designated, but later versions performed repeated melee attacks until the grapple succeeded or until the spell expired. The earlier versions slowly constricted the victim, doing potentially greater damage the longer the creature remained in its grasp. A later version did a steady squeeze while the post-Second Sundering version was just an incrementally stronger and more damaging version of Bigby's grasping hand when cast at increased level.

The crushing hand could also be used in the same manner as Bigby's interposing hand or as an improved Bigby's forceful hand with greater strength.

Range and duration varied widely over the history of this spell. For the earliest versions, a wizard that had advanced just enough to cast this spell could control the hand for 18 minutes and extend its reach to 90 ft (27 m) indoors/80 yd (82 m) outdoors. Later versions lasted only a minute or two, but the reach was extended from 120 ft (36.6 m) to 270 ft (82.3 m) at a minimum.

For all versions of this spell, the health of the hand was the same as the caster's uninjured health.

When cast on Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells, the hand took on the form of a grasping claw belonging to a demon or a devil.

Components
In addition to the verbal component, all versions required somatic gestures. After the Second Sundering, the hand imitated the movement of the caster's hand for the duration of the spell. All arcane versions required a glove made of snake skin and an eggshell.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Abduction
 * Video Games
 * Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal &bull; Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition &bull; Neverwinter Nights series