Web (spell)

Web is a spell that conjures a dense mass of fibrous, spider-like webbing, formed as a suspended curtain, a layered obstruction or a tangled accumulation at the caster's discretion. The dweomer produces a total volume measuring 40 ft. by 15 ft., with a depth of 5 ft., and this extent does not increase with the caster's level. Within that space, the web may be arranged to block passage, spread across the ground as a hindrance or packed into an enclosed area to fill it.

Web

Range	5 ft. per level
Duration	20 rounds per level
Area of Effect	40 ft. wide, 15 ft. high curtain
Casting Time	1 round
Saving Throw	none
Level	mage (2nd)

For the web to hang as a vertical barrier, it must be anchored between solid points; it cannot suspend itself unsupported in open air. Once formed, the webbing clings to surfaces and to itself, creating a cohesive but unstable mass. The material is highly adhesive, drawing itself toward contact and binding whatever touches it. It lacks structural strength, however, and cannot be climbed; any attempt to do so only causes the web to collapse inward, enveloping the climber more completely.

The web affects all creatures equally, including the caster, who gains no special freedom of movement within it.

Vulnerabilities

The web recoils from intense heat. Contact with a torch or similarly heated object causes it to shrink and melt away locally, clearing one combat hex at a time. More powerful fire, such as a wall of fire or a fireball, destroys the webbing instantly wherever the flames make contact, leaving only those portions that were not reached by the effect. Despite this vulnerability, the web cannot be set alight to produce sustained fire or additional damage. When the spell's duration expires, the web dissipates entirely, vanishing without residue.

Effects

Creatures caught within the web at the moment of casting, or those who attempt to move through it thereafter, suffer a –2 action point penalty to all actions, reflecting the constant resistance and entanglement of the fibres. This penalty persists for 10 rounds after the creature has freed itself, as strands continue to cling and impede movement.

Movement is significantly restricted. Entering or crossing a single combat hex within the web requires 3 AP, and strides greater than 1 are not possible. Combat effectiveness is likewise reduced: those entangled suffer a –3 penalty to hit with melee weapons, and the use of missile weapons is effectively prevented, as drawing, loading or throwing cannot be accomplished within the binding mass.

See Spider