By no means do I intend this to be a highly refined fix. No, I haven’t play tested my spells. But I have play tested RAW spells, and I understand the basic game dynamics that make spells awkward in practice. So if the details are off, I’m open to suggestions. (But I can be mighty stubborn about basic design philosophies. *wink*)
Celebrim said:
I'm not saying that he doesn't get some things right, and it does have the advantage of giving me something to think about and being on the right path, but I'd be alot more impressed to see him rolling out fixes wall of force, forcecage, and find the path than fireball to say nothing of mindblank, freedom of action, and death ward.
I rewrote True Seeing in my initial spell book, so here are two more in the same vein:
Death Ward
Necromancy
Level: (Arcane, Divine, Natural) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Component: M, S, V
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 30 ft.
Target: One creature
Duration: 5 minutes
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
You confer upon the target limited immunity to death effects. To affect the target with such an effect, the caster must succeed on a caster level check (DC 10 + your caster level). Effects which have a higher spell level than this spell bypass this immunity. (Supernatural effects have an effective spell level equal to half the creature’s level or CR, rounded up.)
Mind Blank
Enchantment
Level: (Arcane) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Component: M, S, V
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 30 ft.
Target: One creature
Duration: 5 minutes
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
You confer upon the target limited immunity to mind-affecting effects. To affect the target with such an effect, the caster must succeed on a caster level check (DC 10 + your caster level). Effects which have a higher spell level than this spell bypass this immunity. (Supernatural effects have an effective spell level equal to half the creature’s level or CR, rounded up.)
And here are a couple more rewrites:
Force Cage
Evocation [Force]
Level: (Arcane) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Component: M, S, V
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 30 ft.
Effect: 10 ft. cube
Duration: 5 minutes
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You create an immobile cube of force with hit points equal to your normal maximum and an AC equal to 10 + your caster level. The cube is immune to most effects that allow saves, except for Disintegrate which automatically destroys an appropriate portion of the cube.
Wall of Force
Evocation [Force]
Level: (Arcane) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Component: M, S, V
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 30 ft.
Effect: Wall of 200 square feet
Duration: 5 minutes
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You create an immobile wall of force with hit points equal to your normal maximum and an AC equal to 10 + your caster level. The wall is immune to most effects that allow saves, except for Disintegrate which automatically destroys an appropriate portion of the wall.
Find the Path is a bit more involved, so I’ll get back to that one.
Celebrim said:
The thing you have to keep in mind is that fireball doesn't set things on fire to keep it from being too powerful.
True; I added the catching on fire thing as a fluff effect rather than as ‘this’ll make fire ball awesome again!’ I figure if you don’t want to risk stuff catching on fire, you’ll use one of the other two [fire] spells I’ve rewritten that don’t do that. Or you’ll write your own fire spell – whatever. Of course, I could simply make the catching on fire part a caster option.
Sylrae said:
Empower spell seems weak.
To be honest, my first impulse was to do away with damage boosters completely and build geometric damage boosts right into the spells. But players tend to cry WHAT YOU TOOK AWAY MY EMPOWER?! IME, even if they’re better off not needing the feat in the first place.
How would you do Empower & similar feats?
Sylrae said:
Doesnt really fix spellcasters though. They still fall flat on their faces if you try to multiclass.
½ caster level per non-class level is the best multiclass fix I’ve heard.
Celebrim said:
I'd also don't like the inclusion of CR into the spell rules. Estimating CR is dicy enough as it is without it having an in game mechanical effect. I do not agree that CR is in general accurate. Additionally, the result is to screw PC casters hard compared to NPC casters, because the rules he writes grant single NPC villains (who are generally higher level than any member of the party) virtually immunity to PC spells while letting a BBEG spellcaster cast spells with impunity at the PCs.
I agree that CR can be wildly inaccurate, but at the same time it’s a hundred times more accurate than HD, which many spells use to limit their power. I vastly prefer CR as a limiter than creature type-based immunity. So yes, my intent is for BBEGs and all non-mook foes to be immune to death effects and other spells without some kind of limiter. PCs are also immune to those effects unless their foe is 5+ CRs higher than party level; I figure once a foe gets 5+ CRs higher than the PCs, the party is venturing into TPK territory already.
Celebrim said:
Likewise, I find alot of naivity in his description. He says that he made 'cure' a swift action to encourage healers to do more than heal on their turn, but more likely it will just encourage them to cast two healing spells on their turn.
Maybe I am naïve, but what would be so wrong about two cures per turn? Sure, the fighter’s as good as new but you’re down two of your upper spell slots and a round of actions.
StreamoftheSky said:
However, after 10th level, it's catching up mostly because you're using a higher level spell slot. The extra +10 you get from TS's version still hasn't caught it back up by CL 20 (as in, it gains +10 damage from the CL 10 value without higher slot expenditure)!
Yes, that’s what I’m going for! Lower level spells should be weak, but should scale enough to accomplish
something without having to metamagic it into your best spell slot. That’s why I don’t cap CL bonuses.
