Magic Mouth, Wasted on Doorbells
Magic Mouth in Dungeon Crawl Classics is a level 1 wizard spell resolved on a d20 spell check plus Intelligence modifier plus caster level. The result table is where the spell lives or dies. A low success (12 to 15) buys a short message keyed to a simple visual or audible trigger inside 30 feet, lasting an hour or two. A 16 to 19 stretches the range, the message length, and the duration toward a full day. A 20 to 23 and up pushes toward permanence and triggers subtle enough to distinguish specific individuals, phrases, or actions.
The waste is treating a 22 like a 12. A caster who rolls high and still sets “shout when someone opens the door” has spent a durable, discriminating enchantment on a task a tripwire handles. The mechanic rewards nuance in the trigger condition, not volume in the delivery. The higher the check, the more the trigger can parse, which is where misdirection and false instructions become possible.
Read the trigger clause on the result, not just the range and duration line. That clause is the payload.
At the table: On a 20+ result, set the mouth to speak only when someone says a specific password, then feed the party a wrong password so their enemies stand at the sealed door repeating it.
Related
- Spells Solve Problems, Not Squares
- Spells Are Verbs, Not Damage Rolls
- Turn Unholy Is a Spell Check, Not a Guarantee
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