Dancing Lights Spell, trouble?

 

Colorized?

I saw this and thought about how often this spell gets ignored. Most players use it to see in the dark. Boring. I want it to feel dangerous. I want it to make someone pay.

So here's the spell from the AD&D Player's Handbook:

Dancing lights (Alteration)  

Level: 1  

Range: 4" + 1 "/level  

Duration: 2 rounds/level  

Area of Effect: Special  

Components: V, S, M  

Casting Time: 1 segment  

Saving Throw: None  

Explanation/Description: When a dancing lights spell is cast, the magic-  

user creates, at his or her option, from 1 to 4 lights which resemble either  

A) torches and/or lanterns (and cast that amount of light), 8) glowing  

spheres of light (such as evidenced by will-0-wisps), or C) one faintly  

glowing, vaguely man-like shape, somewhat similar to that of a creature  

from the Elemental Plane of Fire. The dancing lights move as the spell  

caster desires, forward or back, straight or turning corners, without  

concentration upon such movement by the magic-user. The spell will wink  

out if the range or duration is exceeded. Range is a base of 4" plus 1" for  

each level of the magic-user who cast the spell. Duration is 2 melee rounds  

per level of the spelt caster. The material component of this spell is either a  

bit of phosphorus or wytchwood or a glowworm.

The lights can look like a man on fire. That is already a hook. In a dungeon with narrow halls, something glowing and man-shaped will draw attention. Monsters move toward it. Maybe guards do too. A clever party can lure enemies away. But they can also give themselves away. I like that dual edge.

I imagine a party in a wet cavern. They send the lights ahead to scout a bend. The lights drift like will-o-wisps. A group of bandits sees them and fires at the glow. The noise draws a carrion crawler from a side passage. The party now has a choice. Move in and risk the crawler. Or wait and let the bandits get eaten. Either way, someone benefits and someone suffers.

The spell has a short duration. That time pressure matters. The caster might push the lights too far. They wink out. Then the party is blind and exposed. I like punishing overconfidence here.

There is also the material component. Glowworm or wytchwood. Easy to hand-wave. I would not. I would make the components rare in the field. If the players want the trick, they have to harvest glowworms from a damp log. Or cut wytchwood from a cursed grove. Small cost. Small risk. But it adds teeth.

I would also tempt players to use the man-shaped light as a decoy. Maybe they send it toward a group of goblins. The goblins attack it. The PCs strike. But the goblins notice the trick eventually. Next time they lay an ambush. This rewards thinking and punishes lazy repeat use.

I like the idea of the spell being bait. A cruel DM tool. It gets parties into trouble and lets them make choices that feel useful but end bloody if they misread the risk.