Whip of Flame

This spell creates a blazing whip or flexible line of flames extending for 12 feet from one of the caster's hands (or, if lacking a hand, from the end of whatever is left of the caster's arm). The whip of flame is wielded using the caster's THAC0, and it strikes once per round. Although this weightless lash behaves like a whip, and burns brightly enough to see by, the flames are actually an illusion, and cannot ignite anything. The weapon is an intangible line offeree, not an actual cord that can wrap around things, be grasped, or be cut.

A whip of flame does damage by transmitting heat, searing whatever it touches for 1d8+3 points of damage per strike. Metal weapons and armor transmit full damage to their wearers, but leather armor or the padding typically worn under metal armor reduces damage by half, rounding fractions down, for the first strike of the whip of flame; thereafter, such garments are hot enough to transmit full damage to their wearers.

Note that creatures can pass through the lashing whip without being slowed or hampered in any way, but in turn they have no effect on it. Beings who rush through the stretched-out whip or otherwise deliberately come into contact with it take its full damage even when it has already struck another creature on the same round.

The whip of flame fades away when the spell expires, the caster wills it to, or the caster commences any other spellcasting.

The material components of the spell are one of the caster's hairs and a flaming branch, spark, or lump of charcoal.