Cause Critical Wounds is a 5th level priest spell. It is the reverse of Cure Critical Wounds.
Description[]
| “ | This spell is the reverse of Cure Critical Wounds. Instead of healing the creature touched, it causes damage. On a successful touch from the priest, the spell inflicts 27 points of damage upon the target. The next attack that the priest makes will cause this effect; however, the priest only has 2 rounds to make the attack before the spell fizzles. If the priest misses the target creature, the spell is wasted. There is no Saving Throw. | ” |
Gameplay[]
This spell is cast on self only.
When the spell casting is finished, a text will display reading "<Caster> Cause Critical Wounds" and a Necromancy spell school casting animation will render.
The caster's main hand weapon slots are temporarily unable to be used to attack and are "replaced" with a magically created item that has a red-colored open hand icon with a small cross at the fingertips, which represents the Cause Critical Wounds melee touch attack weapon.
This weapon has a relatively short duration of 15 seconds, and then it will disappear if not used (and it can be dispelled as well).
The touch attack weapon has a range of 1 foot, and the caster must successfully achieve a touch attack on a single target creature in order to apply the critical wound.
The caster will roll to hit as normal and receive a +2 THAC0 bonus to do so - the caster's weapon proficiency skills aren't factored into this, nor are any Strength modifiers.
Any other modifiers that alter THAC0 specifically (from equipped items or spell/potions) are applicable to the to-hit roll.
If the caster misses the to-hit roll, the magical weapon disappears, and the spell is finished.
If the touch attack succeeds, then 27 Magical damage is applied to the target, along with a red colored burst graphic on the target's sprite, and the weapon disappears.
This touch attack damage can be prevented in several ways, including Magic resistance, Spell Immunity: Necromancy, or a Spell protections type defense such as Minor Spell Deflection, Spell Deflection, or Spell Trap.
Additionally, a Spell Turning will reflect the damage back on the attacker.
The Cloak of Mirroring will negate this touch attack as well.
Notes[]
Cause Critical Wounds works like any other spell which conjures a weapon, such as Shillelagh or Flame Blade. The primary difference is that it has a much shorter duration and that the conjured "weapon" disappears on its first attack, even if it misses the target.
The touch attack weapon strikes as a +6 magical/silver/cold iron item in terms of what it may strike.
If a character dual-wields another weapon while Cause Critical Wounds is active, their off-hand weapon will not suffer any off-hand THAC0 penalty.
See also[]
- Cause Serious Wounds, 4th level priest spell - equivalent effect but inflicts 17 damage.
- Slay Living, 5th level priest spell - similar effect but deals 2d6 + 9 damage and forces the victim to save vs. spell or be slain.
- Harm, 6th level priest spell - equivalent effect but reduces the victim's HP to 1 on a successful roll.
Trivia[]
The Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition ruleset doesn't list Cause Critical Wounds as its own separate spell, it is implemented by a Priest as a reverse of the Cure Critical Wounds spell, which requires a successful touch attack and inflicts 3d8+3 points of damage.
Mod content[]
This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.
Spell Revisions mod has replaced Cause Serious Wounds with this spell and is therefore now in the 4th-level Divine spell category. The mod makes changes to the casting time, scaling, boosts the THAC0, and the damage is unaffected by Magic Resistance.
Cause Critical Wounds
Level: 4
School: Necromancy
Sphere: Necromantic
Range: Personal
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 4
Area of Effect: 1 creature
Saving Throw: None
This spell is the reverse of Cure Critical Wounds. Instead of healing the creature touched, it causes damage. On a successful touch from the priest, the spell inflicts 4d8 + 4/level points of damage upon the target (up to a maximum of 4d8+40). The spell expires once the priest makes a successful melee attack or after 1 turn has passed. The priest gains a +4 bonus to hit the target. Magic resistance does not affect this spell.
External links[]
- Cause Critical Wounds on the Icewind Dale Wiki, a wiki for the first Icewind Dale game.
- Inflict critical wounds on the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms.