Expelliarmus had to be a cantrip, right? Harry Potter didn’t sit down with The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 and memorize Expelliarmus every day. It was all in the reflexes; a spell etched into his memory to be cast over and over without any preparation.

Do you think the boy who lived could ever forget Expelliarmus? If you’d even entertain such an idea, you Sir, are nuttier than squirrel poo.

Where was I going with this? Oh yeah. Give the Nothic some cantrips.

You heard me. Give the Nothic some fucking cantrips. Specifically, give it Control Flames, Mold Earth, Shape Water, and Thunderclap. All are cantrips that don’t require verbal or material components. Nor do they require memorization, because to master a cantrip, you’ve simply got to put in the reps over and over and over again until they become second nature.

Flick and swish. Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa (make the ‘gar’ nice and long). You know exactly what I’m talking about – unless you didn’t read the books; in which case you’re probably wondering how many hazies I’ve had tonight (the answer is two, thank you very much. Butterbeer never did it for me).

Anyhoo, a Nothic might retain no awareness of its former life, but that doesn’t mean they forget instinct and muscle memory. They’re drawn to places rich in magical knowledge. They understand that they were once arcanists; that they suffer from a magical affliction and there exists a method to reverse its condition.

I’d like to think that a Nothic would have the ability to recall the rote magic they learned in their former lives, so long as it doesn’t require memorization, a verbal component (because they can’t speak) or material components (because they’re not a part of the muscle memory gained by putting in the reps while mastering the cantrip).

With the exception of Thunderclap, the other cantrips have no offensive properties. They’re utility spells that have creative uses, which allows a Dungeon Master to be more creative for their encounter with Tresendar Manor’s Nothic.

With the Nothic’s use of Control Flames, the oil lamps in the wall sconces of the Redbrand Hideout flare up or expand in an unexplained manner in certain areas, perhaps turning different colors or dimming, or even snuffing out all together. Their light casts strange shadows on the walls that could tell the tale of Phandalin’s fate centuries ago when the orcs came screaming down from the foothills to sack Phandalin.

With a casting of Mold Earth, the Nothic decorates the columns in the crevasse area with colors, shapes, or runes. The ground above the crevasse becomes difficult terrain as the characters travel through the area or try to make a quick escape. Or the Nothic tries to communicate with the group through rudimentary words and images scratched into the earthen floor.

I would think a casting of Shape Water would be limited to the cistern. But perhaps the Nothic has frozen the water in the cistern for funsies, or changed the color of the water to look like blood, or rudimentary water sculptures rise out of the water in the forms of a woman and two children after seeing Mirna, Nilsa, and Nars marched through the hideout.

Worried about the Nothic being too overpowered for truculent characters when they want to attack it? A casting of Thunderclap is much kinder than the Nothic’s claw or rotting gaze attack. And the thunderous sound that will rattle through the entire Redbrand Hideout could create a scenario where planning suddenly seems more sensible than combat with the Nothic as doors swing open and the sounds of footfalls approach the area where the thunderous boom came from.

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