I took a closer look at “Insect Swarm,” and it’s quite a terrifying spell. The area of effect of the swarm is 36 feet around and 6 feet high, meaning Asroth the Presenter could fill an entire room in a dungeon crawl with all the grasshoppers, bees, mosquitoes, and other six-legged monsters one can imagine. Any creature under 5 hit dice must check morale or run away, so this includes ogres and all kinds of other orc leaders or bugbear chieftains. It’s also a great way to scatter a crowd of goblins, xvarts, or other small humanoids, since any creature under 2 hit dice immediately runs away from the swarm.

“Insect Swarm” also lasts no less than 9 turns, since a cleric needs to be 9th-level to cast it. That’s a lot of insects coming out of Asroth’s fingers and buzzing around. If we believe the time system set out in the Player’s Handbook, then that’s 90 minutes of swarming, and although I’ve never been caught in one, I can imagine that’s plenty of swarm for anyone.

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