One press writes a small spell with no name: what it does, how to cast it and what it costs.
Random Spell Generator: 20 spells
A spell to make a map show who walked it last. Cast it by walking backward through your own gate. The cost: you dream of nothing but stairs tonight. It ends at the stroke of noon. Bystanders notice one plucked note from a string nobody touched.
Padlock: keep a part.Arrows: change only that part.
What it doesmake a map show who walked it last
How it is castwalking backward through your own gate
What it costsyou dream of nothing but stairs tonight
What ends itat the stroke of noon
The signone plucked note from a string nobody touched
Every spell you make is kept here, newest first, up to the last 20. The list stays in this browser.
Spell of the day
A spell to fill a room with the smell of fresh bread. Cast it by naming every color you can see. The cost: your handwriting slants the wrong way for a week. It ends when you take off your hat. Bystanders notice frogs starting up, whatever the hour.
A spell to make a painting's weather match the weather outside. Cast it by standing where two paths cross and choosing neither. The cost: you are late to the next three meals. It ends after three nights. Bystanders notice petals on the ground where there are no flowers.
A spell to make a ladder one rung taller than it was. Cast it by tracing the word on a window in breath. The cost: your left glove vanishes until the first frost. It ends when the fire goes out. Bystanders notice a chill that passes like a cloud's shadow.
A spell to make a boat hold still in a current. Cast it by dropping a silver button down a well. The cost: you forget the tune you were humming. It ends when somebody sneezes. Bystanders notice a chill that passes like a cloud's shadow.
A spell to make a stopped clock tell the right time. Cast it by lighting a candle from another candle. The cost: you must tell one secret to a river. It ends when the fog lifts. Bystanders notice a rustle, as if a large bird had settled nearby.
A spell to hear the last words spoken in any room. Cast it by humming one note until it wobbles. The cost: you spend the evening looking for the spell book. It ends when thunder is next heard. Bystanders notice frogs starting up, whatever the hour.
A spell to let two people trade handwriting. Cast it by knocking twice on wood and once on stone. The cost: you hum without meaning to for an hour. It ends when a dog barks twice. Bystanders notice a pale ring around the nearest lamp.
A spell to keep bread warm on the table. Cast it by tying three knots in a red thread. The cost: everything you eat tastes of mint until morning. It ends when a leaf falls on you. Bystanders notice a creak from every floorboard at once.
A spell to seal a leaking roof. Cast it by speaking the last word you heard somebody say. The cost: you forget the tune you were humming. It ends when the lamp oil runs out. Bystanders notice the smell of oranges, briefly.
A spell to make a soup taste of the eater's favorite meal. Cast it by saying your own name three times, slower each time. The cost: your left glove vanishes until the first frost. It ends at the end of the next song you hear. Bystanders notice the smell of rain on dry stone.
A spell to keep a lamp lit in any wind. Cast it by pouring sand from one hand to the other. The cost: your umbrella turns inside out on the next windy day. It ends when the first person yawns. Bystanders notice a creak from every floorboard at once.
A spell to make an echo repeat a word from yesterday. Cast it by singing one line of a lullaby backward. The cost: you owe a song to the first bird you hear. It ends when the first person yawns. Bystanders notice a creak from every floorboard at once.
A spell to draw the damp out of a wet coat. Cast it by telling the truth about something small. The cost: your clock runs a quarter hour slow all week. It ends at the first star of evening. Bystanders notice a low hum, like a far-off beehive.
A spell to call fireflies to light a path. Cast it by pressing a thumb into warm wax. The cost: you dream of nothing but stairs tonight. It ends when the dew dries. Bystanders notice the water in every cup rippling once.
A spell to make a creaking stair fall silent. Cast it by stirring a cup of water against the clock. The cost: everything you eat tastes of mint until morning. It ends at the next cockcrow. Bystanders notice three soft knocks from under the table.
A spell to make a cold floor warm under bare feet. Cast it by chalking a door on a wall and knocking on it. The cost: you owe the next stranger a true compliment. It ends when an owl calls. Bystanders notice the floor feeling, for a moment, like a boat.
A spell to keep a lamp lit in any wind. Cast it by speaking the last word you heard somebody say. The cost: you must plant a tree before the year is out. It ends when a child asks why. Bystanders notice a pale ring around the nearest lamp.
A spell to make footsteps sound from the wrong direction. Cast it by counting down from seven in a borrowed voice. The cost: your spoon is always in another room this week. It ends when a pot next boils over. Bystanders notice a scent of pine sap and cold iron.
A spell to make one seed grow as you watch. Cast it by standing on your own shadow at noon. The cost: birds follow you for the rest of the day. It ends when the first person yawns. Bystanders notice the hush that comes before snow.
A spell to fill a room with the smell of fresh bread. Cast it by breaking a biscuit into four and sharing three. The cost: you leave chalk-white footprints for a mile. It ends at the end of the next song you hear. Bystanders notice every candle flame leaning the same way.
This random spell generator writes one made-up spell in five parts: what it does, how it is cast, what it costs you, what ends it and the sign bystanders notice. Use it as a spell randomizer for stories and games.
Read the full guide
Roll a spell, then keep the parts that fit
Tap a part to lock it or change it alone. Lock What it does on the bridge of mist that holds one walker and press New spell until the cost suits your caster. Print 20 spells makes a spell book page, or a stack of scrolls once the sheet is cut.
Why each spell has a cost and an ending
A spell that costs nothing ends the story. Here the price is small and odd: your tea goes cold, or you owe the wind a favor. The ending tells the table how long they have. No spell has a name, a level or a number.
Tips
Read the sign first: bystanders notice it before they know a spell was cast.
Lock How it is cast to give one character the same gesture for every spell.
Questions and answers
Can I use these spells in a tabletop game?
Yes. Nothing here has a level, a school, a range or damage, so no rule is copied or broken. Treat the result as a small favor of magic and let the game master rule what it can do at the table.
How do I make spell scrolls from the results?
Press Print 20 spells and cut the sheet between spells, then roll each strip. Every one carries the whole spell: what it does, how to cast it, the cost, the ending and the sign.
How do I invent my own spells?
Decide four things: what the spell does, what the caster must do, what it costs and what ends it. Small effects with odd costs are the easiest to use in a scene. Roll a few here, then swap one part for your own.
bring a lost traveler's footprints up out of the ground
call a breeze into a slack sail
keep a campfire's smoke from being seen
keep a mule in a good mood
keep a path from being lost in fog
keep boots dry in any river
make a boat hold still in a current
make a cart wheel mend itself as it rolls
make a heavy pack weigh as little as a loaf
make a lantern light only the true road
make a rope as long as the climb needs
raise a bridge of mist that holds one walker
shorten a day's walk by a single mile
turn a walking stick into a signpost that points home
Words and messages 14
hear the last words spoken in any room
learn the name of any tree by touching it
lend your singing voice to a friend
let two people trade handwriting
make a bell ring in a town a day away
make a book read itself aloud
make a letter arrive before it is sent
make a map show who walked it last
make a whisper carry across a market square
make an echo repeat a word from yesterday
make ink show up only by moonlight
read a page through a closed cover
send a paper bird to find one person
write a letter that only its reader can see
Growing things and weather 14
call a patch of sunlight to follow you
call fireflies to light a path
coax a spring out of dry ground
hush every cricket in a field
keep frost off one garden
keep one branch in fruit, whatever the season
keep one cup full of morning dew
make a stone remember being warm
make moss grow in the shape of a word
make one seed grow as you watch
make snow fall on a single rooftop
raise a wind that turns only pages
turn a puddle into a window on somewhere else
wake a flower that closed for the night
Harmless tricks 14
fill a room with the smell of fresh bread
let a statue change its pose when nobody looks
make a door open onto the room you just left
make a hat refuse to leave its head
make a ladder one rung taller than it was
make a painting's weather match the weather outside
make a scarecrow wave at everyone who passes
make a soup taste of the eater's favorite meal
make a table one leg shorter
make every cat in the street sit in a row
make every coin land on its edge
make footsteps sound from the wrong direction
swap the colors of two coats
tie two shadows together
How this list was compiled: An original list written for this page on 2026-09-30. The tool deals one made-up spell from five rows (what it does, how it is cast, what it costs, what ends it, the sign bystanders notice) and cannot block a combination, so every line in this row was written to read well beside every line in the other four. No spell has a name, a level, a school, a range, a damage figure or any other number from a game. Rules for this row: a verb phrase that follows "A spell to". A small, kind effect a scene can use, with no time limit of its own, that harms nobody, controls nobody and opens no lock. Screened by script on 2026-09-30: no line repeats a line of any other list on this site (the potion rows, the superpower list and the magic item rows among them) or on drawthisnext, and no line shares a run of four words with the Wikipedia articles Magic item, Magic item (Dungeons & Dragons), Magic in Dungeons & Dragons, Fictional universe of Harry Potter, Magical objects in Harry Potter, Magic in fiction, Incantation, Magic (supernatural) and List of mythological objects (read that day) beyond the plain phrases "in the shape of", "on the back of", "for as long as", "at the end of" and "of frost on the". Cut on reading: fourteen lines that sat near a line on a sister page (a candle kept burning, a missing coat button, speaking only in questions, a private rain cloud, running water that cannot be crossed, an ending when the candle burns down, when a name is said or when someone says thank you, a bell nobody rang, breath that shows in summer, a tune nobody taught, a circle of salt, a bird understood) and every effect that carried its own time limit, since the ending row sets the limit. Licence: own work
How it is cast: all 50 castings
A gesture 13
balancing a pebble on the back of one hand
braiding three grass stems together
clapping once with wet hands
drawing a spiral in spilled sugar
folding a paper boat and setting it afloat
knocking twice on wood and once on stone
pouring sand from one hand to the other
pressing a thumb into warm wax
Show all 50 castings (42 more)
A gesture, continued
snapping a dry twig in two
stirring a cup of water against the clock
tracing the word on a window in breath
turning around once with eyes shut
tying three knots in a red thread
Something said 12
asking permission of the nearest tree
counting down from seven in a borrowed voice
humming one note until it wobbles
naming every color you can see
reading the words off a page held upside down
reciting the days of the week out of order
saying your own name three times, slower each time
singing one line of a lullaby backward
speaking the last word you heard somebody say
telling the truth about something small
whispering the spell into a cupped hand
whistling the first tune you ever learned
A thing held 13
breaking a biscuit into four and sharing three
burning a bay leaf with one word written on it
chalking a door on a wall and knocking on it
dropping a silver button down a well
holding a feather up to the wind
lighting a candle from another candle
opening a book to a page chosen blind
pouring out a cup of tea for nobody
ringing a small bell under a blanket
spinning a coin until it falls
sprinkling flour over your own footprints
tying a ribbon around a spoon
writing the spell on a leaf and letting it go
A place to stand 12
climbing to the highest step you can find
crossing a bridge without speaking
facing the rising moon with hands open
lying on the grass and looking straight up
sitting under a table until the room goes quiet
standing in a doorway at the turn of the hour
standing on your own shadow at noon
standing where two paths cross and choosing neither
standing with one foot in a stream
waiting at a window until a bird lands
walking backward through your own gate
walking three times around a well
How this list was compiled: An original list written for this page on 2026-09-30. The tool deals one made-up spell from five rows (what it does, how it is cast, what it costs, what ends it, the sign bystanders notice) and cannot block a combination, so every line in this row was written to read well beside every line in the other four. No spell has a name, a level, a school, a range, a damage figure or any other number from a game. Rules for this row: an -ing phrase that follows "Cast it by": a gesture, something said, a thing held or a place to stand. Nothing sharp, nothing swallowed and nothing a child could not safely act out. Screened by script on 2026-09-30: no line repeats a line of any other list on this site (the potion rows, the superpower list and the magic item rows among them) or on drawthisnext, and no line shares a run of four words with the Wikipedia articles Magic item, Magic item (Dungeons & Dragons), Magic in Dungeons & Dragons, Fictional universe of Harry Potter, Magical objects in Harry Potter, Magic in fiction, Incantation, Magic (supernatural) and List of mythological objects (read that day) beyond the plain phrases "in the shape of", "on the back of", "for as long as", "at the end of" and "of frost on the". Cut on reading: fourteen lines that sat near a line on a sister page (a candle kept burning, a missing coat button, speaking only in questions, a private rain cloud, running water that cannot be crossed, an ending when the candle burns down, when a name is said or when someone says thank you, a bell nobody rang, breath that shows in summer, a tune nobody taught, a circle of salt, a bird understood) and every effect that carried its own time limit, since the ending row sets the limit. Licence: own work
What it costs: all 51 costs
Something goes missing 14
every pocket you own is empty for an hour
you forget the tune you were humming
you lose the next coin toss, whatever you call
your best pen runs dry until the next rain
your bookmark falls out of every book for a month
your candle will not light for the rest of the night
Show all 51 costs (45 more)
Something goes missing, continued
your door key hides for the length of one search
your handwriting slants the wrong way for a week
your hat is found on a fence post next morning
your left glove vanishes until the first frost
your name is misspelled on every letter this month
your spoon is always in another room this week
your tea goes cold the moment it is poured
your umbrella turns inside out on the next windy day
Something odd follows 13
birds follow you for the rest of the day
doors stick for you until the next new moon
every gate you pass swings open behind you
everything you eat tastes of mint until morning
you have two shadows until the next sunrise
you hum without meaning to for an hour
you leave chalk-white footprints for a mile
you must speak of yourself as "we" until supper
your boots squeak until the next full moon
your cloak smells of wet dog for a week
your footsteps make no sound until dawn
your next fire gives light but no heat
your pockets fill with acorns
Something is owed 12
you must answer the next question honestly
you must carry a river stone in one pocket for a year
you must give away the next thing you find
you must leave a coin where the spell was cast
you must mend something that is not yours
you must plant a tree before the year is out
you must say thank you to the moon, out loud
you must tell one secret to a river
you must walk home the long way round
you owe a song to the first bird you hear
you owe the next stranger a true compliment
you owe the wind a favor, and the wind collects
Time 12
you are late to the next three meals
you cannot cast the same spell again this season
you cannot find north until tomorrow
you dream of nothing but stairs tonight
you must sit still for as long as the spell lasts
you sleep through tomorrow's sunrise
you spend the evening looking for the spell book
you wake an hour early for a week
your birthday feels a day shorter this year
your clock runs a quarter hour slow all week
your next hour passes in what feels like a minute
your next journey takes twice as long
How this list was compiled: An original list written for this page on 2026-09-30. The tool deals one made-up spell from five rows (what it does, how it is cast, what it costs, what ends it, the sign bystanders notice) and cannot block a combination, so every line in this row was written to read well beside every line in the other four. No spell has a name, a level, a school, a range, a damage figure or any other number from a game. Rules for this row: a sentence about "you", the caster, that follows "The cost:". A cost is small, odd and passes; none touches the body or the health of the caster. Screened by script on 2026-09-30: no line repeats a line of any other list on this site (the potion rows, the superpower list and the magic item rows among them) or on drawthisnext, and no line shares a run of four words with the Wikipedia articles Magic item, Magic item (Dungeons & Dragons), Magic in Dungeons & Dragons, Fictional universe of Harry Potter, Magical objects in Harry Potter, Magic in fiction, Incantation, Magic (supernatural) and List of mythological objects (read that day) beyond the plain phrases "in the shape of", "on the back of", "for as long as", "at the end of" and "of frost on the". Cut on reading: fourteen lines that sat near a line on a sister page (a candle kept burning, a missing coat button, speaking only in questions, a private rain cloud, running water that cannot be crossed, an ending when the candle burns down, when a name is said or when someone says thank you, a bell nobody rang, breath that shows in summer, a tune nobody taught, a circle of salt, a bird understood) and every effect that carried its own time limit, since the ending row sets the limit. Licence: own work
What ends it: all 40 endings
An hour 13
after a slow count of one hundred
after three nights
at the end of the next song you hear
at the first star of evening
at the next cockcrow
at the next town bell
at the stroke of noon
on the first frost
Show all 40 endings (32 more)
An hour, continued
when a pot next boils over
when the lamp oil runs out
when the last guest goes home
when the moon sets
when the tide turns
Something done 14
when a child asks why
when a door slams
when a knot comes undone nearby
when anybody shares a meal with you
when somebody sneezes
when someone asks you the time
when someone steps over your shadow
when someone tells a lie nearby
when the first person yawns
when you cross a threshold
when you fall asleep
when you laugh
when you step in a puddle
when you take off your hat
Weather and animals 13
when a cat crosses your path
when a cloud covers the sun
when a dog barks twice
when a leaf falls on you
when an owl calls
when the dew dries
when the fire goes out
when the first bird sings
when the first raindrop lands
when the fog lifts
when the snow melts
when the wind changes
when thunder is next heard
How this list was compiled: An original list written for this page on 2026-09-30. The tool deals one made-up spell from five rows (what it does, how it is cast, what it costs, what ends it, the sign bystanders notice) and cannot block a combination, so every line in this row was written to read well beside every line in the other four. No spell has a name, a level, a school, a range, a damage figure or any other number from a game. Rules for this row: a phrase that follows "It ends". An hour, something done or a turn in the weather, and never something that depends on how the spell was cast. Screened by script on 2026-09-30: no line repeats a line of any other list on this site (the potion rows, the superpower list and the magic item rows among them) or on drawthisnext, and no line shares a run of four words with the Wikipedia articles Magic item, Magic item (Dungeons & Dragons), Magic in Dungeons & Dragons, Fictional universe of Harry Potter, Magical objects in Harry Potter, Magic in fiction, Incantation, Magic (supernatural) and List of mythological objects (read that day) beyond the plain phrases "in the shape of", "on the back of", "for as long as", "at the end of" and "of frost on the". Cut on reading: fourteen lines that sat near a line on a sister page (a candle kept burning, a missing coat button, speaking only in questions, a private rain cloud, running water that cannot be crossed, an ending when the candle burns down, when a name is said or when someone says thank you, a bell nobody rang, breath that shows in summer, a tune nobody taught, a circle of salt, a bird understood) and every effect that carried its own time limit, since the ending row sets the limit. Licence: own work
The sign: all 40 signs
Seen 14
a brief mist at knee height, even indoors
a brief shimmer, like heat over a road
a faint glow along your sleeves
a pale ring around the nearest lamp
a ring of frost on the nearest window
a single feather drifting down from nowhere
all the shadows in the room turning slightly
copper-colored sparks that fall upward
Show all 40 signs (32 more)
Seen, continued
dust rising in a slow spiral
every candle flame leaning the same way
the nearest cat sitting bolt upright
the nearest mirror clouding over
petals on the ground where there are no flowers
the water in every cup rippling once
Heard 13
a creak from every floorboard at once
a faint chiming from your pockets
a low hum, like a far-off beehive
a pop, like a seed pod bursting
a rustle, as if a large bird had settled nearby
a sigh from the chimney
a sound like a page being turned
an echo arriving before the sound
every dog in earshot going quiet
frogs starting up, whatever the hour
the hush that comes before snow
one plucked note from a string nobody touched
three soft knocks from under the table
Smelled or felt 13
a chill that passes like a cloud's shadow
a prickle, like wool on a dry day
a scent of pine sap and cold iron
a taste of salt on the air
a warm draft from no direction
a whiff of struck flint
the feeling of having just forgotten a word
the floor feeling, for a moment, like a boat
the smell of a snuffed candle
the smell of fresh-cut grass indoors
the smell of old books opened
the smell of oranges, briefly
the smell of rain on dry stone
How this list was compiled: An original list written for this page on 2026-09-30. The tool deals one made-up spell from five rows (what it does, how it is cast, what it costs, what ends it, the sign bystanders notice) and cannot block a combination, so every line in this row was written to read well beside every line in the other four. No spell has a name, a level, a school, a range, a damage figure or any other number from a game. Rules for this row: a noun phrase that follows "Bystanders notice". Something seen, heard, smelled or felt in the moment of casting, strange but not frightening. Screened by script on 2026-09-30: no line repeats a line of any other list on this site (the potion rows, the superpower list and the magic item rows among them) or on drawthisnext, and no line shares a run of four words with the Wikipedia articles Magic item, Magic item (Dungeons & Dragons), Magic in Dungeons & Dragons, Fictional universe of Harry Potter, Magical objects in Harry Potter, Magic in fiction, Incantation, Magic (supernatural) and List of mythological objects (read that day) beyond the plain phrases "in the shape of", "on the back of", "for as long as", "at the end of" and "of frost on the". Cut on reading: fourteen lines that sat near a line on a sister page (a candle kept burning, a missing coat button, speaking only in questions, a private rain cloud, running water that cannot be crossed, an ending when the candle burns down, when a name is said or when someone says thank you, a bell nobody rang, breath that shows in summer, a tune nobody taught, a circle of salt, a bird understood) and every effect that carried its own time limit, since the ending row sets the limit. Licence: own work