Forgotten Melody

To set this spell in motion, the caster sings the first phrase or the chorus of a tuneful, catchy song. Victims of forgotten melody must make a successful saving throw vs. spell at a —4 penalty or mentally obsess on that song. They cannot get the song out of their heads until they finish it, and they worry the lyrics around in their minds over and over trying to remember them and complete the song. While victims are trying to finish the song, they cannot cast spells or use psionic abilities since they cannot focus on any other intense mental activity other than finishing the song.

Forgotten melody is especially devastating to very intelligent beings, who tend to be able to concentrate intensely, since it subverts that very capability. The duration of the spell is determined by the Intelligence of the being affected by it: Beings who fail their saving throws are affected for the number of rounds equal to their Intelligence. This duration is affected by their magical defense adjustment (determined by Wisdom). Those affected beings with a magical defense adjustment bonus may subtract the number of rounds equal to the bonus from the spell's duration; those with a magical defense adjustment penalty must add the number of rounds equal to the bonus to the spell's duration.

Mindless undead creatures and creatures with animal intelligence or less (an Intelligence of 1 or less) cannot be affected by a forgotten melody, and neither can beings who cannot hear or do not understand the language of the caster (although the caster may employ magical means to make himself or herself understood and then affect such creatures).