Dungeon Master Forum

Sorry, another question of an apprentice dungeon-builder

I'd like to create a new offensive spell, just like in the example dungeon with the iceball. Casting the new spell works fine, but it doesn't cause damage to anything. How can I do that (and how was that done in the inceball example)? I looked though all of the RTC editor and didn't find the option to set a spell's damage.

You didn't find the option because no such option exists. You can't edit RTC spells very much. You can mess around with their conversion effects but this is kind of hacky and I'm not the one to ask about it, because it's been years since I've messed with that stuff.

The iceball does damage because it's cloned from a fireball, i.e., the spell inherits the properties of what it was cloned from. This is invisible and inherent; you can't edit it.

Here's a few pointers I picked up when it comes to spells in RTC...
- To create a spell that only hits the given target (as opposed to the whole square) use poison bolt as your base spell.
- To inflict fire damage, use fireball.
- To inflict lightning (magic) damage, then use lightning bolt.

- If you want to fire a custom event (without any damage, spawning an item where the spell explodes, for instance) then use the poison cloud projectile without using the poison cloud as the 'cloud' for the projectile.
This one is very useful for custom spells... just remember that you can use CREATE_NEW_ON_FLOOR to create a spell (like a fireball) that instantly explodes, you can use this method to actually inflict damage (can be used for: if member doesn't have a given item in either hand, then blow the spell up... if they DO have the item, then don't create the damage).
Yes, it is possible to create a spell that only damages the party if they aren't carrying a given item! If I can do that, then I'd have to say that ALMOST anything is possible.

I hope this has helped you in your quest for spells and ideas for spells.