Level Up (A5E) Rare variants of spells that don't have them

[věkitateljь]

A possible simplified version of Mirror Image is that it simply causes all incoming attacks to miss 50% of the time for say 3 rounds, unless the attacker has True Sight, Blindsight, Tremorsense, or similar to pinpoint your location. And higher level spell slots could increase the duration by 2 rounds per spell slot level.

I like this version. This is not a "fix" in a strict sense, but it perfectly fits as a rare modification of the spell, with different benefits and drawbacks.

Diogenes' Durable Doppelganger. This spell’s duration is 3 rounds, plus 2 rounds for each slot level above 2nd. Instead of creating several copies, the spell creates a single duplicate that instantly regenerates after being destroyed, as long as spell is active.

Each attack has a 50% chance to hit either you or your copy, unless your movement speed is reduced to 0, or the attacker has True Sight, Blindsight, Tremorsense, or similar ability to pinpoint your location.

Notes: I added the movement restriction cause, because I have trouble imagining a scenario where someone repeatedly has trouble hitting grappled/restrained character because of conjured duplicates. I'm not sure about upcasting: most combats last around 4 rounds, and the first round is better spent casting something else. Maybe a "you may target an additional willing creature" would be better?

That's exactly what Blur does, so just get rid of Mirror Image, and make Blur's duration 1 minute without concentration.

Isn't this too powerful? It makes Dodge action useless for any spellcaster who has access to this version of the spell and can afford spending slots. It's comparable to having Shield last 1 minute instead of 1 round. You can spend your action to cast a leveled spell while still benefiting from pseudo-Dodge.

Gain an extra image per higher spell slot level above 2nd. When using a level 5+ spell slot, you can increase the duration to concentration (1 hour), if you wish.

I like your "you can increase duration, if you wish" - it's very elegant and indeed tempting in some cases.

"Extra image per slot level" breaks my verismultitude somewhat: cast at 9th level, the spell creates 11 copies, meaning that we have 12 creatures occupying a 5-feet square. Illusionary copies can overlap, but then why is it impossible to hit several of them with a single attack?

If Mirror Image affects other senses (auditory, etc.) then it would negate that, but then the "cannot see" should be omitted from the spell description.

This is another nice fix (could be included in a rare version or houseruled into a base spell).

 

[Tessarael]

[..] Isn't this too powerful? It makes Dodge action useless for any spellcaster who has access to this version of the spell and can afford spending slots. It's comparable to having Shield last 1 minute instead of 1 round. You can spend your action to cast a leveled spell while still benefiting from pseudo-Dodge.

The big benefit of Shield is that it is cast as a reaction, when you are hit (so not on a miss), and it grants +5 AC. Disadvantage is roughly equivalent to +3 AC, and you're spending an action to cast the Blur spell or the merged variant that I suggested. Spending an action to cast a defensive spell is quite expensive - you're usually better off taking offensive actions in combat, particularly as it typically only lasts 3 to 4 rounds.

And yes, a spell that causes disadvantage on incoming attacks is better than the Dodge action, but that's not surprising as you're spending a second level spell slot. Dodge is very rarely worthwhile, unless you're an Adept/Monk or can otherwise dodge as a bonus action.

"Extra image per slot level" breaks my verismultitude somewhat: cast at 9th level, the spell creates 11 copies, meaning that we have 12 creatures occupying a 5-feet square. Illusionary copies can overlap, but then why is it impossible to hit several of them with a single attack?

Yes, I agree. That's another reason to argue that this should just be disadvantage, particularly if the spell caster is larger than size medium.

 

[Chaltab]

What about using the BG3 version of the spell?

It creates 3 duplicates as normal, each duplicate gives you a +3 bonus to AC. Whenever you'd be hit, one of the duplicates vanishes and you lose its bonus to AC. So you get a +9 at first, but it drops to a +6 and +3.

 

[Tessarael]

What about using the BG3 version of the spell?

It creates 3 duplicates as normal, each duplicate gives you a +3 bonus to AC. Whenever you'd be hit (?), one of the duplicates vanishes and you lose its bonus to AC. So you get a +9 at first, but it drops to a +6 and +3.

If I build a mage that has high AC, say Fighter 1/Wizard X, I can have say base AC 22 with Full Plate +1 and Heavy Shield +1 - sounds high, but quite viable by level 7 to 9 in many campaigns, if not earlier. If Mirror Image gives +9 AC on top of that, my AC is 31. That's going to be crazy hard to hit. I wouldn't allow it.

However, if I am reading the BG3 Mirror Image spell correctly, you lose an image whenever you successfully evade an attack, whether or not it would have hit you. That wording makes more sense too me. Effectively, the 3 illusory duplicates will result in you being missed 3 times, out of about 4 attacks for a spell caster with more typical base AC of 16 to 18. For the high AC caster, it means you'll most likely be missed on those first 3 attacks, by which point the illusory images have all disappeared and you're back to the AC 22 in the example above.

So that solution works too, but modifying your AC seems an unnecessary complication. Why not just say attacks have 75% chance (1, 2, or 3 on d4) of not targeting you while Mirror Image is running, and a duplicate disappears each time you are missed due to this, starting with 3 duplicates? That also has a similar benefit, and it is simpler mechanical.

Edit: 75% chance of not being targeted when you have 3 images, 66% with 2 images, and 50% with 1 image.

 

[Chaltab]

I assume that the 75% chance goes down to 50% and then 25% with the loss of the first two duplicates?

So that solution works too, but modifying your AC seems an unnecessary complication. Why not just say attacks have 75% chance (1, 2, or 3 on d4) of not targeting you while Mirror Image is running, and a duplicate disappears each time you are missed due to this, starting with 3 duplicates? That also has a similar benefit, and it is simpler mechanical.

I assume that the 75% chance goes down to 50% and then 25% with the loss of the first two duplicates? Yeah I suppose that works.

 

[Tessarael]

Just to correct the math, it should be 75% chance of not being targeted when you have 3 images, 66% with 2 images, and 50% with 1 image, but your essential understanding of my proposal is correct. I should have spelled it out more clearly.

That's why I gave a modified variant of the spell with four duplicate images where they are automatically dispelled if targeted, as on average the images would be hit about 75% of the time with the base spell version if the images have AC 10 + your Dexterity modifier. With that modified version, you've got 80% chance of not being targeted with 4 images, 75% with 3, 66% with 2, and 50% with 1. The end result is the same as the base spell, you get protected from 4 attacks, before the duplicates have all been dispelled.

 

[Chaltab]

I'm not sure I understand how that works out statistically but math wasn't a great subject for me.

 

[Tessarael]

I'm not sure I understand how that works out statistically but math wasn't a great subject for me.

With my Mirror Image version with 4 images and the images always destroyed if you are missed, the math is as follows:
With 4 images + you, there's a 4 in 5 (80%) chance you are not targeted, and the 1st image is destroyed.
- 80% chance you are not hit by the first attack.
With 3 images + you, there's a 1 in 4 (75%) chance you are not targeted, and the 2nd image is destroyed.
- 0.8 x 0.75 = 0.6, so 60% chance you are not hit by the first 2 attacks.
With 2 images + you, there's a 1 in 3 (67%) chance you are not targeted, and the 3rd image is destroyed.
- 0.8 x 0.75 x 0.666 = 0.4, so 40% chance you are not hit by the first 3 attacks.
With 1 images + you, there's a 1 in 2 (50%) chance you are not targeted, and the 4th image is destroyed.
- 0.8 x 0.75 x 0.666 x 0.5 = 0.2, so 20% chance you are not hit by the first 4 attacks.
Which attacks they are destroyed on will vary, but they will protect you from 4 attacks in total.

With the original Mirror Image version with 3 images and the images have AC 10 + Dexterity bonus, they have about a 75% chance of being destroyed when you are missed vs. typical opponents. The math is more complicated:
42.2% chance they last 3 hits on images = 0.75^3
31.6% chance they last 4 hits on images = 3 x 0.25 x 0.75^3, as 3 choose 1 for which of the first 3 hits doesn't destroy image
15.8% chance they last 5 hits on images = 6 x 0.25^2 x 0.75^3, as 4 choose 2 for which of the first 4 hits don't destroy images
8.8% chance they last 6 hits on images = 10 x 0.25^3 x 0.75^3, as 5 choose 3 for which of the first 5 hits don't destroy images
1.6% chance that the images last 7+ attacks on the images.
Summing, the average number of attacks they protect you is 3x0.422 + 4x0.316 + 5x0.158 + 6x0.088 + 7x0.016 = 3.96.
(I have fudged the calculation a little by not bothering to calculate further above the images lasting 7+ attacks.)

The end result of all this is that the images protect you from about 4 attacks on average, same as my simplified version.

 

[guachi]

You can make a better version of Arcane Muscles by increasing the die size at levels 5/11/etc. so 1d6 to 1d8 to 1d10.

 

[Tessarael]

You can make a better version of Arcane Muscles by increasing the die size at levels 5/11/etc. so 1d6 to 1d8 to 1d10.

I think this is fairly balanced vs. a spell like Shillelagh, particularly if it still takes an action to cast, rather than the bonus action rare variant that I suggested for Arcane Muscles. However, I would not allow this in campaigns where there are Adepts/Monks, as it could overshadow their unarmed capability.

An equivalent of the 2nd level spell Magic Weapon for unarmed attacks would be good, something that does benefit Adepts/Monks without overshadowing them. So let's just make a rare variant of that spell:

Improved Magic Weapon - rare variant​

2nd level (transmutation; arcane, enhancement, transformation, weaponry)
Classes: artificer, herald, wizard
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: touch
Target: one unarmed attack method, natural weapon, or nonmagical weapon
Components: V,S
Duration: 1 hour

Until the spell ends, the target unarmed attack method (e.g., kick or punch), natural weapon (e.g., claw or bite), or nonmagical weapon becomes +1, i.e., gaining +1 to attack and +1 to damage. This doesn't stack with any other sources of magical attack/damage bonus.

Cast at Higher Levels: The bonus increases by +1 for every 2 slot levels above 2nd (maximum +3).

And this is the sort of spell variant that also really belongs on the Druid's spell list to boost their wild shape attacks.