Float (Wizard Spell)

A recipient of this spell becomes more buoy­ant in water. The creature floats straight up to the surface like a cork, at a rate of 10 feet per level of the caster per round, carrying up to 10 pounds of "baggage" per level of the caster. Air-breathing creatures benefiting from this spell are safe from drowning unless they are pre­vented from rising to the surface. At roughly 50 feet per round, the ascent is swift, but the crea­ture stops if it encounters some obstacle. A floating creature can move around as it normally would; the spell does not interfere with normal swimming or movement, even if the recipient is diving or swimming downward. However, an individual who stops swimming floats toward the surface. There are no ill effects of this rapid rise, regardless of the original depth. The float spell does not imbue the creature with the swim­ming proficiency, but it keeps an air-breathing creature on the surface, where breathing is pos­sible, at least until the spell wears off.
A caster touching an object instead of a crea­ture can successfully float a weight of up to 10 pounds per experience level. (This is harder than lifting a creature that in theory is already some­what buoyant.) For example, an experienced wiz­ard might use float to raise a treasure chest from the sea floor.
The material component of float is a bit of cork. The wizard bites down hard on it when cast­ing the spell.
Notes: Common in Arabian settings; very rare elsewhere.
Category:Wizard Spells
Category:Spells from Wizard's Spell Compendium
Category:Spells