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Wall of thorns was a conjuration spell that called a dense, thorny thicket into existence.[2][3][4][7]

Effects[]

A tangled mass of wiry scrub with needle-like thorns as long as a human finger was temporarily created by this spell. The size of the thicket was one 10 ft (3.1 m) cube per level of the caster and could be shaped in any contiguous path or structure up to the maximum volume the caster could summon. Optionally, the caster could make twice as many wall segments of only 5 ft (1.5 m) thickness.[note 1] The barrier could be dismissed by the caster at any time.[2][3][4][7]

Impacting or moving through these prickly shrubs subjected the unfortunate being to slashing damage from the thorns. Only creatures with the ability to move through overgrown terrain unhindered could pass wall of thorns at normal speed undamaged.[2][3][4] The better the armor worn by the victim, the less harm was incurred. Sufficient armor coverage could result in no damage whatsoever.[2][3][4][7] If a creature was caught in the area of effect as the matrix of thorns appeared, they were considered to have impacted the wall and took damage accordingly. If they remained motionless until the spell expired, no further harm occurred, but attempting to leave the area or cutting their way out was considered moving through the barrier and they would again be raked by thorns.[2][3][4][7]

There were two versions of this spell. The older version required 40 minutes to hack or chop a path through a 10 ft (3 m) section safely.[3][4][7] The newer version took 100 minutes to go the same distance.[2] Because the newer wall was more dense, it took acts of strength to push through it,[2] whereas the old wall did not impede motion if the victim was willing to brave the thorns.[3][4][7][note 2]

The wall of thorns was immune to normal fire, but magical fire could set it ablaze and destroy it completely.[2][3][4][7] The newer version burned away in 10 minutes[2] while the older version became a wall of fire (with the cool side toward the caster) for 20 minutes before being consumed.[3][4][7]

The barrier was not a living plant and therefore was not susceptible to spells that effect plants.[2]

Components[]

This spell only needed verbal and somatic components to cast.[2][3][4] However, in the oldest druidic tradition, all druid spells required mistletoe as their holy symbol,[8] while the post-Second Sundering version of the spell required a handful of thorns as a material component.[1]

History[]

Wall of thorns appeared in the divine spellbook and a holy book of Silvanus, Leaves of Green.[9]

In the month of Eleasis, of the Year of the Unstrung Harp, 1371 DR, Chief Prelate Dayspring of the Clerical Circle of Ravens Bluff declared it illegal for priests to cast wall of thorns within city limits due to a raging unnatural storm at the time called the Soulstorm, threatening arrest for those that broke this decree.[10][note 3]

Appendix[]

Notes[]

  1. While the Player's Handbook v.3.5 does not explicitly say that you can make walls only 5 ft (1.5 m) tall, the older sourcebooks say the caster may choose any sort of shape that suits the need.
  2. The 3rd edition version computed damage based on how long a victim was exposed to the thorns, whereas 1st and 2nd edition computed damage based on how many feet of thorns a victim passed through. Nothing but damage prevented a victim from crashing through the older wall but failed Strength checks could greatly impede progress and prolong the time spent getting through the newer wall.
  3. The events of the Living City Ravens Bluff campaign took place on a timeline that advanced together with the real world's time. Even though all Living City adventures and issues of Ravens Bluff Trumpeter were dated with real-world dates, there were events that received a DR year. The Living City timeline can be derived from Myrkyssa Jelan's historic events of the late 14th century DR. Myrkyssa Jelan attacked Ravens Bluff in 1370 DR, according to The City of Ravens Bluff and Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition; these events are chronicled in an in-and-out of universe issues of Ravens Bluff Trumpeter. This places the real world year 1997 as 1370 DR, and in 1998 (1371 DR), Myrkyssa was at last arrested and tried and said to have been executed, only to reappear in 1372 DR in The City of Ravens novel. As the real world's months and the Calendar of Harptos are virtually identical, we can also date all events of the Living City Ravens Bluff as close as an in-universe month.

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