Eadric et. al. (The Paladin and his Friends).

[Cheiromancer]

Mostin's rite was designed as a means to interpret the web of motes - not to exercise huge magical power. It simply happened that, mechanically, it also makes his spells almost irresistible.

If its purpose were simply to aid interpretation of the web of motes, then it is poorly designed. There is ample precedent that enhancement, luck, insight and circumstance bonuses can be added to skill checks. Crunching the numbers, why would you choose to add +61 to your checks when you could add +123?

But if part of the intent is to introduce the principle that luck, insight and circumstance bonuses can be applied to ability scores... well, obviously that was a success. If part of the intent was to ensure that there was a back-up means to make the wizards nigh irresistable- well that was a success too.

In short, I don't think those spells were poorly designed. But perhaps I am overly cynical and suspicious this morning!

[edit]I've been re-reading this part of the thread- after devising a similar set of spells for Graz'zt- and I realize I was being unfair in my comments. The fortify seed does not allow bonuses to skills. So boosting intelligence is really the only way Mostin could come to interpret the web of motes, and he really can do that only by allowing different types of bonus. Sepulchrave's comments on game balance and player trust have sunk in a little more deeply since I wrote the text above. I still want to re-write the fortify seed, but I am a little humbler about knowing what the best form of it would be.[/edit]

 

[Noir]

easiest way to kill graz'zt

since you allow epic spells with dc 0 to be invented on spot, they can kill him with an epic spell that overcomes all his protection and slays him with a 100 percent chance of succes by taking vast amounts of backlash damage and then have nwm reincarnate the character afterwards. it's extreme meta gaming but it should work.

 

[Ryan Koppenhaver]

since you allow epic spells with dc 0 to be invented on spot, they can kill him with an epic spell that overcomes all his protection and slays him with a 100 percent chance of succes by taking vast amounts of backlash damage and then have nwm reincarnate the character afterwards. it's extreme meta gaming but it should work.

I don't have the ELH at the moment, but I believe that the dice of backlash damaged allowed are capped at twice the caster's level.

Plus, they'd still have to win initiative.

 

[tleilaxu]

Hey, I was looking for Rhyxali (who is she again?) and hunted down tleilaxu's Appendix perhaps a brave soul could suggest updates to that appendix?

john

the appendix is current up to the very first foray into afthiqan, so a lot has happened since then. i may go back and do a read through of the story and add on to the appendix at some point, then again i may not. personally, i am unsatisfied with my organization of the appendix so if i went back and did it again i'd first have to rearrange everything to satisfy my sense of completeness...

 

[Lela]

personally, i am unsatisfied with my organization of the appendix so if i went back and did it again i'd first have to rearrange everything to satisfy my sense of completeness...

So, unless you get really board, it isn't going to happen?

 

[grodog]

the appendix is current up to the very first foray into afthiqan, so a lot has happened since then. i may go back and do a read through of the story and add on to the appendix at some point, then again i may not. personally, i am unsatisfied with my organization of the appendix so if i went back and did it again i'd first have to rearrange everything to satisfy my sense of completeness...

Hey, that's great tleilaxu! If you want to discuss reorganization of the appendix sometime, let me know (I'm iscladoc on AIM we could chat there, or in an IRC chatroom): taxonomies and content mangement/organization are part of my day job!

 

[Lela]

taxonomies and content mangement/organization are part of my day job!

*Lela Takes note of that*

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Boy, that makes for one hefty Contact Other Plane spell, to say the least.

Maybe a superintelligent Ortwin could use the UMD skill to cast COP from a scroll and taunt G. with annoying questions?

 

[Mytholder]

If its purpose were simply to aid interpretation of the web of motes, then it is poorly designed. There is ample precedent that enhancement, luck, insight and circumstance bonuses can be added to skill checks. Crunching the numbers, why would you choose to add +61 to your checks when you could add +123?

I was thinking about this. While Knowledge (arcana) is the skill used to manipulate the Web of Motes, maybe Mostin's player is worried that other skills will be needed to interpret the results? What if Mostin can percieve, say, a hyperdimensional entanglement between the motes of Soneillon and Nehael, but lacks the Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (history) (or hell, Sense Motive) to understand that relationship?

 

[grodog]

*Lela Takes note of that*

Grodog takes note of Lela taking note