Unholy Blight is a 3rd level priest spell usable by a cleric of evil and neutral alignment and the blackguard. It inflicts damage and various penalties on all good creatures in its area of effect.
Description[]
| “ | This spell calls upon energy from the Negative Energy Plane in order to open a channel between it and the targets. The result is that any good creatures within the spell's area of effect take 1d4 points of damage per level of the caster, or half damage upon a successful Saving Throw vs. Spell. If the victims fail their Saving Throw, they also receive a -2 penalty to all their rolls for 4 rounds. | ” |
Gameplay[]
The caster designates a point on the area map where the spell's area of effect center is desired, using the targeting cursor and "clicking"/selecting to set the spot.
Upon completion of the spell cast, an "Unholy Blight" projectile almost instantly renders on the map, centered on the designated spot, then applies its effects in a 15-feet radius.
Any creature, friend or foe, within the area of effect that is of good Alignment is potentially exposed to the spell's effects.
The spell applies variable Magical damage as determined by the caster's priest level - ranging between 5 to 19d4 - although a Saving throw versus spell will reduce the damage by half (approximately).
If the saving throw is failed, the victim is also affected by several maladies, to include:
- A 2-point penalty to all Saving throw values lasting 4 rounds.
- A 2-point THAC0 penalty lasting 4 rounds.
This spell can potentially be blocked by Magic resistance, and a Spell Immunity: Necromancy will negate it outright.
A Minor Globe of Invulnerability will block this spell, as will the Cloak of Mirroring.
This spell will affect innocent and neutral creatures with a good alignment in the spell's AoE and may provoke hostility, including others in the vicinity.
The penalties applied by the spell can be removed by any applicable Dispel Magic effect.
Notes[]
- This spell's secondary effects are cumulative with multiple castings and stack with other roll penalties, such as Doom and Greater Malison.
- While this spell is roughly equivalent in power to Holy Smite, keep in mind that very few enemies in the series are actually good aligned; this spell has limited applications as a result.
Bugs[]
Baldur's Gate II:
Shadows of Amn (2000)
This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn campaign.Baldur's Gate II:
Throne of Bhaal (2001)
This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal campaign. In the original Shadows of Amn, this spell actually rolled its damage as d2's; for example, a level 15 cleric casting this spell would deal 30d2 damage instead of 15d4 as stated in the description. This caused the spell to deal more damage on average. This was fixed in the Enhanced Editions.
Trivia[]
The Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition ruleset has no spell titled Unholy Blight. The spell is a creation by the game developers.
Mod content[]
- This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.
Spell Revisions mod has changed this Divine spell, revising its scaling and description. See below:
Unholy Blight
Level: 3
School: Necromancy
Sphere: Necromantic
Range: Long
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 3
Area of Effect: 20’ radius
Saving Throw: Special
With this spell the priest calls up unholy power to smite his enemies. The power takes the form of a chilling, cloying miasma of darkness. Opponents within the spell’s area of effect take 1d4 points of damage for every level of the caster (up to a maximum of 10d4), with a successful saving throw vs. spell for half. If the victim fails his save, then he will also receive a -2 penalty on his attack rolls and saving throws for 4 rounds.
Mod gallery[]
External links[]
- Unholy Blight on the Icewind Dale Wiki, a wiki for the first Icewind Dale game.