Picking up from last time, here’s a very simple magic system for the Labyrinth Adventure Game. It’s heavily inspired by Ben Milton’s Knave, which is fitting since he wrote the adventure portions of Labyrinth. Effectively, spells are simply one-use scrolls (or whatever form you want them to appear as; I picture them etched on little stone tablets) that allow for a very specific instantaneous or short-duration special effect.

Check ’em out!

How Spells Work in Labyrinth

In a game without a Horned Beast character, it may be fun to allow PCs to find spells giving them the ability to control objects just like horned beasts do. Spells could be something negotiated for, found in out of the way places, or found in the trash that goblins toss aside — they aren’t very bright, after all! 

Spells are one-use, and should have a very limited, specific effect. Whenever one of the spells below refers to a duration (such as “1 minute”), that’s 1 minute of real-time. Set a timer! 

Randomly generating a Control Objects spell might simply use the original list of abilities for horned beasts (table 1). But there might be other objects that could be controlled (table 2), or entirely different spells (tables 3 and 4)!

(Many of these spells are inspired by Knave by Ben Milton and Lowlife by Sam Sorensen.)

Random Spells

To randomly generate a spell, roll 1d6 to determine which table to roll on:

1-2 Table I; 3-4 Table II; 5 Table III; 6 Table IV

Table I

These are the same as the Horned Beast’s control object ability: you can do it once, and it has an instantaneous result.

  1. Treasure
  2. Glass
  3. Plants
  4. Rocks
  5. Furniture
  6. Water

Table II

These work just like the Horned Beast’s control object ability, as well, but simply work on different types of objects.

  1. Tools
  2. Trash
  3. Armor & weapons
  4. Light sources
  5. Machinery
  6. Food

Table III

These spells are described below.

  1. Animate Object
  2. Bend Fate
  3. Command Word
  4. Deafen
  5. Disguise
  6. Marble Madness

Table IV

These spells are also described below.

  1. Magnetize
  2. Mud Mask
  3. Push
  4. Spider Climb
  5. Whispers
  6. Yoink

Spell Descriptions

Animate Object: A single tool or piece of furniture comes to life for 5 minutes, able to walk along with you and perform any tasks an anthropomorphized version of itself might reasonably be capable of performing.

Bend Fate: Roll a die three times, recording each result. Whenever you must roll a die after casting this spell, you must choose and then discard one of the rolled results until they are all gone.

Command Word: A creature obeys a single, one-word command that isn’t obviously going to harm it to the best of its ability for up to 1 minute.

Deafen: 1d6 creatures you designate are deaf for 1 minute.

Disguise: You can take on the appearance of any other kin for 1 minute.

Marble Madness: You scatter a thousand marbles over a large area and they remain for 1 minute, preventing anyone from moving through it without falling down. Anyone crawling over the marbles does so very slowly.

Magnetize: An object you designate (no bigger than a large piece of furniture) or a 10 foot by 10 foot section of a wall or floor becomes highly magnetic to 1d6 people or objects you identify for 1 minute.

Mud Mask: When you coat yourself in mud, you cannot be moved unwillingly by any force for 1 minute.

Push: A creature or object of any size is pushed away from you 1d6x10 feet. If a creature, it falls down after being pushed.

Spider Climb: You can cling to and crawl across walls, ceilings, and other surfaces like a spider for 1 minute. Don’t go too high, or you risk falling when this duration ends!

Whispers: You call upon a random faerie (p. 260) to answer a single question about the current scene truthfully.

Yoink: One object of a size that can be held in your hand that is in your line of sight immediately flies to your hand.

Thoughts?