There's a new article at the WotC site: Living Spells: Acid, Slumber, and Stone.
In it they discuss new Living Spells based on non-area effect spells: Acid Arrow, Deep Slumber (although I believe this is a valid target for the template) and Flesh to Stone.
The good part comes with the "Flesh to Stone" spell:
I love the solution they came up with.
I love this idea of transforming a spell into a "new" one with an area-effect, not only because it creates an interesting creature but because I feel it expands INSIDE the game.
What do you think of this?
Do any spells come to your minds upon which we can apply this idea?
And I've been toying with something they don't mention here...
How about a beneficial living spell?
Living Bless? Living Bull's Strength?
How would you feel about those? What uses could they have? As a pet for a mage so he can cast it on himself freely?
Thanks for reading.
Lucas
In it they discuss new Living Spells based on non-area effect spells: Acid Arrow, Deep Slumber (although I believe this is a valid target for the template) and Flesh to Stone.
The good part comes with the "Flesh to Stone" spell:
Designer's Notes: It is important to note from a game design standpoint that the "area spells only" limitation of the living spell template is there mainly to keep the template simple and to prevent abuse by applying it to single-target spells (which tend to be more powerful than the individual effects of an area spell of that spell level), though in many cases applying the template to a targeted spell would not cause any problems. [...]
Keep this in mind when considering spells for the template; a spell precluded by the template's general restriction to "area spells only" may actually be quite suitable as long as you think ahead to the possible repercussions of the chosen spell or perhaps modify its spell effect.
The third living spell presented here is an example of one of these "off limits" spells: flesh to stone. Flesh to stone is a targeted spell and therefore cannot be used with the living spell template as written; if anything, a creature that can petrify at will has have a higher CR than a simple template modifier could account for. However, there is no reason we can't speculate that some mage once created a gorgon's stony breath spell, which causes creates an area of greenish-gray fumes that cause creatures in the area to slow down and eventually turn to stone. Rather than going through the hassle of creating such a spell and then applying the living spell template to that new spell, we can model the effects of that spell by using a staggered effect flesh to stone spell (slowing on first strike, stoning on the next) even though that spell is not allowed under the rules of the template. The two-step process of the creature's special ability makes it much less lethal and keeps its power level in accord with the template's CR calculation.
I love the solution they came up with.
I love this idea of transforming a spell into a "new" one with an area-effect, not only because it creates an interesting creature but because I feel it expands INSIDE the game.
What do you think of this?
Do any spells come to your minds upon which we can apply this idea?
And I've been toying with something they don't mention here...
How about a beneficial living spell?
Living Bless? Living Bull's Strength?
How would you feel about those? What uses could they have? As a pet for a mage so he can cast it on himself freely?
Thanks for reading.
Lucas