Ava Mendoza — New Spells (Relative Pitch/Astral Spirits)
New Spells by Ava Mendoza
Play any Ava Mendoza track at random and you’ll find that she’s a shredder. But to better understand the breadth of her shred, New Spells, a collection of solo electric guitar tracks which she released in November 2021, is a good place to start.
In a sense this record serves as a kind of primer to Mendoza’s virtuosic playing, displaying her technical skill and comfort across genres, from traditional blues guitar to free jazz to heavy rock. But more interestingly, perhaps, it exhibits her ability to harness and interpret emotion, both her own and others.
Mendoza bends and drags the first few notes of opener “Sun Gun,” bringing to mind the vintage tones and melodic saunter of Mike Cooper’s electric exotica. “Sun Gun” is the first of two pieces Mendoza composed for the record, and longtime listeners may find they evoke her 2010 solo release, Shadow Stories, a collection of loosely translated traditional tunes. These first moments are lovely, though she doesn’t rest there long. She builds riff by riff, layer by layer, pausing at times to tease out a particular note or tone, until she hits “New Ghosts,” her second composition.
Mendoza, now based in Brooklyn, started playing classical guitar in elementary school, and for high school attended the prestigious arts -focused boarding school Interlochen, in Michigan. Somewhere along the way she got into Sonny Sharrock, Albert Ayler and Kerry King, and all kinds of free jazz, punk and classic blues. As she put it years ago in an interview with the webzine Kathodik, her focus on classical guitar made her feel as though “something was amiss, and I wanted to play music that was more exciting and expressive, closer to what I was listening to.” She bought an electric guitar and started improvising and playing in rock bands, when she wasn’t studying theory.
That’s all to say that no matter how far out Mendoza gets, there’s usually some sense of being anchored in classical musical structures. It’s more evident in projects like the art rock combo Unnatural Ways, which sometimes veers close to technical heavy metal. There are shadows of Unnatural Ways in “New Ghosts.” Is that song heavy? How could it not be, after all that construction? But Mendoza’s sound, on this record at least, is more smoke than steel, it fills the room. It’s atmospheric but refuses to be relegated to background noise.
The record’s latter three tracks were written for Mendoza by friends: Trevor Dunn, Devon Hoff and John Dikeman, respectively. In the liner notes, Mendoza explains that, while she loves playing her own compositions as a solo artist, she also loves interacting with other musicians. New Spells was recorded at home in 2021 and, Mendoza explains, making her friends’ compositions her own allowed her to blur the lines between solo and communal creation, even in relative isolation.
With close listening one can begin to hear the voices of these other musicians, but New Spells also sounds fully like Mendoza. Relative to some other corners of her catalog, this release is subdued and, while she rarely, if ever, swerves into the territory of truly challenging listening, she takes a windy road, effortlessly crisscrossing borders of sound and authorship. In the end those borders don’t really exist.
The Sacrifant Class - The sacrifant is a class that balances greater casting power with hit point management, as each spell draws you a little closer to death.
Finally got a finished version of just the class (plus a little extra). I’m posting to DMsGuild because it makes it easier to circulate one up to date edition of the class. It has a suggested price, but you can pay what you want (including nothing).
This is a blood magic class. Similar to bloodhunter, but dedicated to casting. There are a lot of abilities which center around damaging and healing yourself and others. All of the spells included in the classes spell list are chosen specifically because they make the most sense for the feel of the class. Some may not work great, but they still have the right feel.
One of the key elements of this class is self-harm (it’s dark, which I guess is a given now), so fair warning. I do not condone self harm, I think it’s dangerous and bad and my heart goes out to anyone that harms themselves for any reason.
I have included information on several item types which assist in the functions of this class, namely the blood tome, bloodstone focus, and blood shard component.
There are also several custom spells included in this text which I have been working on for a while and fit the feel of the class. These are also open to use by other casting classes as well (haven’t narrowed down exactly which for which yet).
I’d keep going, but you can just read the thing if you want to know more.
Happy October, ya’ll. I hope this is the right kind of spooky.
I realized while editing class spells for my class compendium that I never made any homebrew spells for the bard. None. Not one. So I decided I should do that and add it to the master posts and whatnot. So here they are, fresh out of the oven. Some are simply converted 3e spells but it was just such a shame they didn’t exist in 5e I statted them anyway.
Animate Instrument
1st level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Touch
Duration: 24 hours
Components: V, S
A musical instrument you touch animates and plays music on its own. While you are within 30 ft. of the instrument, you can use a bonus action to mentally command it to start or stop playing and you determine what sort of music it plays. You can also have the instrument start or stop playing if a condition is met, but only one such condition at a time. For instance, you can command an animated horn to blare when a creature comes within 30 ft. of it.
Appraising Eye
1st level divination
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Duration: 1 minute
Components: V, S
Your eye glints with magical insight for the duration. You can use your action to instantly discern the monetary value of any object you look at. You do not learn its properties or whether or not it is magical.
Blare of the Archon
5th level evocation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S
You create a short-lived glowing magical horn which you blow to unleash a deafening blast. All creatures in a 60 ft. cone in a direction you choose emanating from the horn must make a CON saving throw. Each creature that fails their save takes 8d6 thunder damage, is pushed 10 ft. away from you, knocked prone, and becomes deafened for 1d4 rounds. Creatures that succeed at their saving throw take half damage and are not pushed or knocked prone.
Art Form
4th level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
Components: V, S
You transform into your choice of either a painted or sculptural form for the duration.
Sculpture Form: You become solid marble, bronze, or brass. You gain resistance to all damage and your weight increases by a factor of ten. You become immune to poison and disease, and any poisons or diseases afflicting you are suppressed while this form persists. Your unarmed strikes deal a bonus 1d12 bludgeoning damage.
Painting Form: You become two-dimensional and attach to a wall within 5 ft. of you. You become immune to physical damage but cannot make physical attacks. You cannot cast spells in this form. You can move along the wall in any direction. You can slip through cracks (like through doors) and around corners. If there is a painting on the wall you can touch it using your action to enter it and interact with it as if it were real for you.
Babble
1st level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 120 ft.
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S
One humanoid creature you target within range must make an INT saving throw. On a failed save, the creature cannot speak intelligently and its speech seems like garbled nonsense for the duration. The creature cannot cast spells with verbal components and other creatures cannot understand anything it says.
Battle Cry
1st level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Bonus action
Range: Self (20 ft. radius)
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S
You unleash a loud war cry that inspires your allies and scares your enemies. All allies in a 20 ft. radius of you gain advantage on their next attack they make before your next turn. All enemies in area must make a WIS saving throw or become frightened of you until the start of your next turn.
Bonerattle
6th level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 90 ft.
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S
You target a creature that has a skeletal structure within range. That creature must make a CON saving throw at the start of each of their turns. On a failed save, the creature’s bones vibrate painfully and disturbingly, like a resin bow is being drawn across them. The creature takes 2d6 thunder damage and 2d6 necrotic damage at the start of each of their turns. The creature’s movement speed is halved. A successful save halves the damage and the creature can move normally during that turn, but does not end the spell.
Climactic Strike
2nd level evocation
Casting Time: 1 Bonus action
Range: Self
Duration: Concentration, up to 5 rounds
Components: V, S
You charge a melee weapon you are wielding with the dramatic tension that builds up during a battle. You may release this energy whenever you hit an enemy with a melee attack to deal a bonus 1d8 thunder damage. Releasing the energy in this way ends the spell. At the end of each of your turns, if you didn’t release the spell’s energy into your attack, it continues to build. The thunder damage increases by 1d8.
Cold Shoulder
5th level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Touch
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S
One creature you touch must make a WIS saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 8d6 cold damage and ignores you for the duration of the spell, regardless of how obviously you broadcast your presence or try to get its attention. They may be aware of your presence, but they do not look at you or attack you or target you with spells. A creature that succeeds at their saving throw takes half damage and suffers no other effects of the spell
Dance of Discord
6th level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self (30 ft. radius)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S
You begin a wild dance that implores others to join you. You can maintain this dance each turn using a bonus action. Each creature you choose that starts their turn in a 30 ft. radius of you must make a WIS saving throw while you continue to dance. Whenever a creature fails their saving throw, they must move in a random direction up to their movement speed, only stopping if their path is blocked. Affected creatures cannot take the disengage action during that turn. Otherwise, their action continues as normal.
Dance of Ruin
3rd level evocation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self (30 ft. radius)
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S
You start a raucous and chaotic dance with fire and lightning flung wildly from your flailing limbs. Each creature in a 30 ft. radius of you must make a DEX saving throw. Each creature that fails their saving throw takes 1d20 fire damage and 1d20 lightning damage. A successful saving throw halves this damage.
At higher levels: If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, you may increase either the fire damage or the lightning damage by 1d10 for each spell slot above 3rd.
Drunkenness
3rd level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 90 ft.
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S
You target a creature you can see within range. During each of your turns, you can use a bonus action to force the creature to make a CON saving throw. A creature immune to poison automatically succeeds at this save. On a failed saving throw, the creature starts to become drunk. Each time the creature fails one of these saving throws their condition worsens as described below.
First Failed Save: No effects.
Second Failed Save: Creature becomes poisoned for the duration of the spell.
Third Failed Save: Creature becomes poisoned for 10 minutes. As long as they remain poisoned, the creature must make an Acrobatics check (DC 13) at the start of each of their turns or whenever they are dealt damage or else fall prone.
Fourth Failed Save: Creature becomes poisoned for 1 hour. The creature falls unconscious as long as they remain poisoned.
At higher levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, you may target an additional creature for each level higher than 3rd.
Earworm
8th level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 60 ft.
Duration: 1 minute
Components: V, S
One intelligent creature you choose within range must make a WIS saving throw. On a failed save, the creature gets a song stuck in their head that distracts them and even causes harm. The creature gains disadvantage on saving throws, attack rolls, and ability checks and takes 3d6 psychic damage at the start of each of its turns. The creature cannot maintain concentration on spells for longer than 1 round. If a target drops to 0 hit points before this spell ends, it spreads to another creature within 60 ft. of the target, who may attempt a new saving throw to resist it.
Fiery Rage
3rd level evocation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 90 ft.
Duration: 1 minute
Components: V, S
One willing creature you can see within range becomes enraged for the duration and gains a fiery aura. The creature deals an additional amount of fire damage with each of their attacks equal to your CHA modifier while enraged and gains resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. Creatures that start their turn 10 ft. of the creature take 1d6 fire damage.
Forgetful Touch
3rd level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Touch
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S
One humanoid creature that you touch must make a WIS saving throw. On a failed save, the creature forgets one fact that it learned or one person it met within the past ten minutes of your choice.
Harmonize
5th level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
Components: V, S
You magically harmonize the music that you play. Whenever you use the Bardic Inspiration class feature while the spell persists, you may inspire one additional creature.
Infectious Rumor
2nd level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 10 ft.
Duration: 8 hours
Components: V, S
You speak to a creature within range and present it with a rumor about an individual or organization which it then spreads throughout a community. The creature must be able to understand you and be a part of the community you wish to affect. The creature must make an WIS saving throw or else it catches the infectious rumor. If it does, the creature then spreads the spell to everyone they talk to, causing the rumor to spread quickly. Some resist the spell while others do not, but nearly everyone in the community will have heard the rumor at some point.
The spell takes 2 days to spread through a village, 4 days to spread through a town, and 6 days to spread through a city. Once the rumor fully spreads, the community's prevailing attitude towards the subject shifts one step towards friendly or hostile, as you wish.
Learn Heraldry
1st level divination
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 90 ft.
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S, M (a piece of parchment)
You target a humanoid creature you can see within range and a piece of parchment to use as your spell focus. The parchment illustrates itself with a heraldic crest that details the creature’s family history using the heraldic symbols relating to their ancestors, whether their ancestors used them or not. The parchment can act as a formal document proving one’s ancestry.
Lullaby
2nd level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S
Creatures of your choice that can hear you within 30 ft. of you get drowsy. Affected creatures have disadvantage on WIS saving throws while you continue to sing. Sleeping creatures in the area do not wake up even if someone tries to wake them while you play the lullaby.
Mirror's Delusion
7th level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 120 ft.
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S
All humanoid creatures of large size or smaller in a 40 ft. radius area centered at a point you choose within range are transformed to look the same for the duration of the spell. Each creature can attempt a CHA saving throw to resist the transformation. All creatures that fail their saving throw polymorph into a copy of one creature you choose in the affected area. Each transformed creature looks, feels, and sounds like the chosen creature and gains the chosen creature’s STR, CON, and DEX scores but retains all of their other statistics and abilities.
Noise
2nd level illusion
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 120 ft.
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
Components: V, S
You create a 20 ft. radius area of loud noise centered at a point you choose within range. The noise can’t be heard outside of the spell’s area. All creatures are deafened while they remain in the spell’s area. The nature of the noise can take any form you choose. If this spell is cast in an area affected by a Silence spell, it instead dispels the Silence spell. A Silence spell cast in this spell’s area instead dispels the Noise spell.
Orchestra
9th level illusion
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 60 ft.
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
Components: V, S
You summon an entire illusory orchestra at a point within range that plays music for all creatures you choose that can hear it. The music can be heard up to 120 ft. away from the orchestra. The orchestra takes up a 15 ft. radius circle but is completely intangible. While the orchestra plays, each creature you designate that can hear it gains a d12 die at the start of each of their turns. A creature with this die may add the it to any one attack roll, saving throw, or ability check made before the start of their next turn. This die does not stack with Bardic Inspiration and similar abilities.
Portrait
3rd level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Touch
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S
One creature that you touch becomes either a statue or a painting that is a perfect depiction of themselves for the duration. If the creature is unwilling, the creature may attempt a CHA saving throw to resist the effect. While transformed in this way, the creature gains the petrified condition but remains aware of their surroundings. Any damage reverts the creature to its original form.
Prismatic Bauble
7th level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 120 ft.
Duration: 10 minutes
Components: V, S
You hypnotize creatures to follow a rainbow-colored floating bauble of scintillating light. The bauble appears at a point within range. Each creature that sees it must make a WIS saving throw or become enthralled by it. Creatures immune to the charmed condition automatically succeed at this saving throw. Each creature enthralled by the bauble uses its movement on each of its turns to move towards the bauble, taking no other actions. The creature automatically fails Perception checks made to notice anything other than the bauble. If an enthralled creature takes any damage, the creature is no longer enthralled and cannot become enthralled by this spell again for the duration.
You can designate up to nine other creatures that are immune to the spell’s effects. You may use a bonus action during each of your turns to move the bauble up to 30 ft. in any direction or to end the spell. You can also designate a pattern of movement for the bauble to follow, which it will do automatically at a rate of 30 ft. each round. The bauble is intangible and can travel through objects. The spell ends prematurely if you move further than 300 ft. away from it.
Sculpt Sound
4th level illusion
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 120 ft.
Duration: 8 hours
Components: V, S
You changes the sounds that creatures or objects make. You can create sounds where none exist, deaden sounds, or transform sounds into other sounds. All targeted creatures or objects must be affected in the same way. You can choose the nature of sounds made but cannot create words with which you are unfamiliar. Once the spell is cast, you cannot change the nature of the sculpted sounds.
A spellcaster whose voice is changed dramatically is unable to cast spells with verbal components. You can dismiss this spell using your bonus action.
Secret Page
2nd level transmutation
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Components: V, S
You cause one sheet of parchment or paper (up to 3 ft. long in any direction) to hide its true contents, now replaced with new ones you choose. The physical structure of the page moves the ink into a new shape, even hiding it deeper in the paper to make it appear blank if you choose. Thus, a True Seeing spell does not reveal its hidden contents. A Detect Magic spell does detect faint transmutation magic, and Dispel Magic will revert the page to its original state. A magic scroll can even be changed to show a different spell, but attempts to use the false spell always fail. You choose a command word which will reveal the hidden contents of the page and hide them again. You may dismiss the spell using a bonus action.
Songbird
4th level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Duration: 10 minutes
Components: V, S
You summon a tweeting bird that flutters about you and harmonizes with your music. Whenever you use the Bardic Inspiration class feature while the songbird persists, you may inspire one additional creature with a d6 inspiration die.
Sticky Fingers
1st level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
Components: V, S
Your fingertips become tacky like glue for the duration. You gain advantage on Athletics checks made to climb or grapple and on sleight of hand checks made for picking pockets or grabbing objects or maintaining your grip on objects.
Summon Instrument
Conjuration cantrip
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Duration: instantaneous
Components: V, S
You summon an instrument of your choice that weighs less than 50 lbs. which persists until you dismiss it. Only one instrument can be summoned with this spell at any given time.
Can you do one for gray asexual slytherin girl and gray asexual slytherin boy? Thanks!
Gray-ace snakes do it best.
There’s a gray-ace Slytherin boy who creates his own amazing color change charms. He originally invented them because he was frustrated not finding any pride merch with the gray-ace flag. He can change anything you want to have the colors of your pride flag and have those colors flash, swirl, or only appear to your friends and datemates.
There’s a gray-ace Slytherin girl who dominates the dungeons. You better not set foot in potions class or the Slytherin common room and think to put down ace-spec identities. You’ll be on the receiving end of a hex so bad you’ll be begging for one of Ginny Weasley’s bat bogey hexes instead.
One of their muggleborn friends teaches them about zines, and they immediately set out to make one all about how they and other Hogwarts students experience gray-asexuality. They spread them around the school, and they even convince Flourish and Blotts to carry them with all the proceeds going to making more copies.
The two snakes sit up late and night and talk about how they’ll both be world renowned someday, and how that renown will bring so much awareness to the entire ace spectrum.
These two were also the first to popularize the shortening of gray-ace to grace. (And they do not object to being called “Your Grace” like the royalty they are.)
