Otiluke's Freezing Sphere suffers the same problem as many of the higher level area evocations.... its not THAT much better than fireball. Now don't get me wrong 300 feet is great, but in most typical dnd adventures not that common. 60 foot radius can be amazing....or an amazing pain trying to avoid your friends. Its damage is less than an upcasted fireball....and its uses con for its save, which is generally a poor choice when facing most monsters.
Now the default idea is to just to give MOAR POWA! More damage, more X, more Y. But instead of that, I wanted to go in a more interesting direction. Both OFS and Fireball start as a projectile from the caster, and therefore are blocked by the same general things (such as wall of force). What if OFS wasn't "sent" but simply "appeared" where the caster wished? And so to the updated spell text, using dimension door as our guide:
streaks from your fingertips to appears at a point of your choice within range, where it explodes in a 60-foot-radius sphere. It can be a place you can see, one you can visualize, or one you can describe by stating distance and direction, such as "200 feet straight downward” or “upward to the northwest at a 45-degree angle, 300 feet". Each creature within the area must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 10d6 cold damage. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage.
If the globe strikes a body of water or a liquid that is principally water (not including water-based creatures), it freezes the liquid to a depth of 6 inches over an area 30 feet square. This ice lasts for 1 minute. Creatures that were swimming on the surface of frozen water are trapped in the ice. A trapped creature can use an action to make a Strength check against your spell save DC to break free.
You can refrain from firing the globe You can instead summon the sphere to yourself after completing the spell, if you wish. A small globe about the size of a sling stone, cool to the touch, appears in your hand. At any time, you or a creature you give the globe to can throw the globe (to a range of 40 feet) or hurl it with a sling (to the sling’s normal range). It shatters on impact, with the same effect as the normal casting of the spell. You can also set the globe down without shattering it. After 1 minute, if the globe hasn’t already shattered, it explodes.
So now OFS gets a whole new niche. Wizard protected behind a wall of force?.... OFS. Want to be behind a solid door and blast a party.... OFS. Scrying 500 feet away from the party and want to blast them as they come through the door.... OFS.
Its not strictly more powerful but now offers a whole new offensive option to wizards, which I think is very appropriate for 6th level.
So what do you think? Does this make OFS a fun new spell, is it now horrifically OP, still a garbage spell even with this change?
Now the default idea is to just to give MOAR POWA! More damage, more X, more Y. But instead of that, I wanted to go in a more interesting direction. Both OFS and Fireball start as a projectile from the caster, and therefore are blocked by the same general things (such as wall of force). What if OFS wasn't "sent" but simply "appeared" where the caster wished? And so to the updated spell text, using dimension door as our guide:
Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere
A frigid globe of cold energyIf the globe strikes a body of water or a liquid that is principally water (not including water-based creatures), it freezes the liquid to a depth of 6 inches over an area 30 feet square. This ice lasts for 1 minute. Creatures that were swimming on the surface of frozen water are trapped in the ice. A trapped creature can use an action to make a Strength check against your spell save DC to break free.
So now OFS gets a whole new niche. Wizard protected behind a wall of force?.... OFS. Want to be behind a solid door and blast a party.... OFS. Scrying 500 feet away from the party and want to blast them as they come through the door.... OFS.
Its not strictly more powerful but now offers a whole new offensive option to wizards, which I think is very appropriate for 6th level.
So what do you think? Does this make OFS a fun new spell, is it now horrifically OP, still a garbage spell even with this change?
