D&D 5E Theory of ICE STORM: A Scholarly Discussion

[Storyteller Hero]

Ice Storm is a 4th level spell that produces a rain of icy hail to cause burgeoning and cold damage. It leaves behind difficult terrain for a round after it is cast.

Since icy hail is a solid object, it brings up an issue of classification.

Ice Storm is an Evocation school spell.

Evocation does create elemental effects but it does so primarily by the manipulation of energy.

If the ice were simply summoned, then that would make Ice Storm belong to the school of Conjuration.

After some thought and heated argument with others, I've come up with the following explanation (RAI).

Ice Storm increases the ambient moisture in the atmosphere by causing a partial shift in a local region towards the elemental plane of Water, using dimensional energy manipulation. A partial "merger" of the planes in a contained area, by injecting disruptive energy to interfere with the forces that separate the planes.

Ice Storm then gathers the moisture using kinetic energy, and manipulates heat for an endothermic/exothermic reaction to transform the water into ice.

Most of the water in the ice arrived as the result of temporary reality shifting, so much of it will realign back to the elemental plane of water when finished, leaving behind some residue, perhaps enough to gather for a waterskin or two but not enough to obstruct movement.

What do you think of this (RAI) explanation of how Ice Storm works?



EDIT: A point of thought has been brought up about energy being converted to matter, with spells like Wall of Stone being brought up as examples.

Invokers (and other spellcasters with evocation spells) know how to manipulate energy to the point where it becomes something physical, because magic is just weaponized symbology, and the symbolism between the energy damage and physical representation of that energy damage were connected in the minds of the beings that created the world when they wrote down all the rules. Which is why spells like Blade Barrier, Wall of Ice, Wall of Stone, Acid Arrow, Meteor Storm, and Ice Storm create physical things out of energy.

If, so then perhaps it's the nature of the starting material that should be used to explain the school used for the magic.

Perhaps something like this:


Energy --> Matter or Energy --> Evocation


Matter --> Transported or Constructed Objects/Creatures --> Conjuration


Matter --> Transformed Objects/Creatures --> Transmutation


In this way, Evocation is still the manipulation of energy, but can be energy (that started as energy) converted to matter through manipulation.


The material for conjuration and transmutation could be matter that started as matter to begin with (not necessarily as whole objects, but at the very least particles of matter).

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I dont do science, but I think it seems overly complicated. As you said, an invoker create elemental effects thru manipulation of energy; an invoker can create energy, but can also remove it. I my book, cold is only the absence of heat (or thermal energy), the invoker only remove all thermal energy in a zone causing water in the air to freeze and plummet to the ground. I think making it so the spell comes from the influence over the actual planes of existence makes it more in the line of conjuration.

 

[Storyteller Hero]

I dont do science, but I think it seems overly complicated. As you said, an invoker create elemental effects thru manipulation of energy; an invoker can create energy, but can also remove it. I my book, cold is only the absence of heat (or thermal energy), the invoker only remove all thermal energy in a zone causing water in the air to freeze and plummet to the ground. I think making it so the spell comes from the influence over the actual planes of existence makes it more in the line of conjuration.

A problem arose when someone pointed out that there wouldn't normally be enough water in the air to simply freeze it. There needed to be more from somewhere, and there was a problem with the fact that the hail disappears too fast, since each chunk has to be big enough to do damage.

Altering the barrier between the planes through energy manipulation instead of directly summoning was a way to keep it in the realm of evocation despite some overlap with conjuration.

 

[jasper]

Wrong wrong wrong
Ice Storm is a summon spell to try to contact the dead wild magic warlock Omar Knedlik. Omar rolled badly when he tried to summon a hot drink called warm coke during the blizzard of 1358 in the Sword Coast town of Ontario. Since the gods were crazy and wild magic surge thru his body killing him, the spell Ice Storm was created. It often goes by the name Icee.
Signed
Volo of Volo's Monster Manual.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

A problem arose when someone pointed out that there wouldn't normally be enough water in the air to simply freeze it. There needed to be more from somewhere, and there was a problem with the fact that the hail disappears too fast, since each chunk has to be big enough to do damage.

Altering the barrier between the planes through energy manipulation instead of directly summoning was a way to keep it in the realm of evocation despite some overlap with conjuration.

Well, just imagine you're aiming the spell at a cloud, I guess there's enough moisture in a cloud to do some damge if it flash-freeze. From where I am, hail storm can be pretty brutal even if the actual ice balls are the size of raspberries or less. Picture it as tiny bullet-shaped ice shards lashing at 100 km/h, the actual difficult terrain caused by the zone being frozen and slippery, not filled with big ice blocks.

 

[Nagol]

Evocation can create both matter and energy. In fact, the school's description has been widened in 5e to the point of useless vagueness:

Evocation spells manipulate magical energy to produce a desired effect. Some call up blasts of fire or lightning. Others channel positive energy to heal wounds

Note that Wall of Stone is an evocation. So obviously, the spell simply creates really cold ice with a high initial velocity.

 

[cbwjm]

Ice storm, wall of ice, wall of stone have all been evocation spells since at least 2e. I think after reading about the various schools in 2e that conjuration brings something from elsewhere, evocation creates something from nothing (or maybe that was invocation back when it was the school of invocation/evocation). Therefore, these spells are creating the effect directly, not summoning it or converting the surrounding moisture into ice which might instead be transmutation.

Personally, there are plenty of spells that I'd be happy to recategorise or even add a 2nd school as they once had back in 2e. Ice storm would be a perfect example of conjuration/evocation.

 

[Leatherhead]

E = mc ²




Well, ok that doesn't really apply here, because magic is the physics of the D&D world. But anyway:

"Cold" is an energy type. The physical representation of "cold" is "ice", because of symbology and metaphysical connotations that are based in story and myth. And because the universe (and perhaps multiverse) of D&D is canonically intelligently designed by beings who really like and promote those kinds of ideas because it makes them seem more clever than they actually are. Likewise, "stones" mean "bludgeoning", "razor metal blades" mean "slashing", and "chemical reactions" mean "acid"

Invokers (and other spellcasters with evocation spells) know how to manipulate energy to the point where it becomes something physical, because magic is just weaponized symbology, and the symbolism between the energy damage and physical representation of that energy damage were connected in the minds of the beings that created the world when they wrote down all the rules. Which is why spells like Blade Barrier, Wall of Ice, Wall of Stone, Acid Arrow, Meteor Storm, and Ice Storm create physical things out of energy.

 

[Storyteller Hero]

Perhaps attention should be brought to the starting point of the created materials then, when separating schools of magic.

Perhaps something like this:

Energy --> Matter or Energy --> Evocation

Matter --> Transported or Constructed Objects/Creatures --> Conjuration

Matter --> Transformed Objects/Creatures --> Transmutation

In this way, Evocation is still the manipulation of energy, but can be energy (that started as energy) converted to matter through manipulation.

The material for conjuration and transmutation could be matter that started as matter to begin with (not necessarily as whole objects, but at the very least particles of matter).

 

[TwoSix]

Considering ice storm is Evocation and sleet storm is Conjuration, I would chalk it up to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯