Bind Weapon: Please Critique

[Farland]

So here is a new idea for a spell. I call it Bind Weapon. It is very rough, so give me lots of critiques and feedback.

Bind Weapon
Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 2, Protection 2
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target: One weapon
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

A thin, gray ray springs from your pointing finger. You must make a successful ranged touch attack to hit a weapon held by a target (the weapon has the touch AC of the wielder). For every four caster levels beyond 1st, you gain an additional ray--two at 5th level, three at 9th, four at 13th, and the maximum of five rays at 17th level or higher. You may only shoot one ray per round as a standard action. If the ray strikes a weapon, the wielder of the weapon must succeed on a DC 18 STR check to maintain his grasp on the weapon, in which case the spell has no effect; otherwise the weapon is pinned to the ground as if by a powerful force. An unattended weapon is automatically pinned by the spell. A weapon so affected can only be recovered with a DC 20 STR check performed as a full-round action. Once the item is recovered, the spell effect ends.

This spell affects magical weapons but does not affect natural weapons, artifacts or relics, or objects that are not weapons, even if they are currently being wielded as impromptu weapons (i.e it only affects things listed in the SRD as weapons). Binding a weapon attached to a locked gauntlet will effectively pin to the ground the arm of the wielder until the gauntlet is removed or unlocked.

Material Component: A small magnet.


What do you think? Is the level appropriate for its power? How about the mechanism? I thought of an auto-hit spell that allows a FORT or will save, but I decided to go with this.

 

[ceratitis]

i like it, nice flavour not over powerful. infact maybe even a little weak, i'd remove the one ray/round restriction cos by the time you're at that level you can fire two rays. i also agree with your choise of to hit vs save.
out of curiousity why transmutation? does the spell magnetize the weapon to the ground? if so add it to the description for extra flaour.
i have to point out i'm no expert on balance issues so beore you clap your self on the back wait for other coments from more expirienced critics but i had to say i like it.
i'll wait for other comments before i swipe it
Z

 

[Farland]

Thanks for the comments. Anyone else care to chime in?

 

[ValhallaGH]

Looks okay. Not too powerful but nice enough that a sorcerer will never regret learning it (unless foes never use manufactured weapons).
Limiting the character to one ray per round really keeps it sane.

I'm curious as to why you chose transmutation. Not that I disagree, I'm just curious.

 

[Farland]

At first I indeed thought of it as magnetizing the weapon, but then I thought of bows, of course, and I reconceived of it as somehow adjusting the molecules in the weapon to make them head toward and stick to the ground, I don't know. Anyway, I conceived of it as a change in the weapon. Do you think it would be more appropriate as another school?

 

[ceratitis]

actually any matterial can be magnetized if you have a strong enough magnetic field, even humans. i got no problem with magic doing that so bows are fair game.
if you dont believe me google "levitating frog"
Z

 

[Machiavelli]

Why would an artificially magnetized item head toward the earth?

If you absolutely MUST assign a physical property to magic (which I advise against, because people like me will argue with you all day), then for this spell I'd stick with gravity. The force acting on the object is almost certainly an attractive force acting from below, otherwise the spell would be transmuting the atmosphere to exert a force it never actually does, which is a pretty significant trasmutation for 2nd-level. The best candidate is increasing gravity's effect upon the weapon, because of all the gravity wells most prominently influencing the weapon, that of the earth will exert the strongest influence, barring an Entropomancer casting in the vicinity. Just have the object's mass increase, or some-such.

 

[Farland]

Why would an artificially magnetized item head toward the earth?

If you absolutely MUST assign a physical property to magic (which I advise against, because people like me will argue with you all day), then for this spell I'd stick with gravity. The force acting on the object is almost certainly an attractive force acting from below, otherwise the spell would be transmuting the atmosphere to exert a force it never actually does, which is a pretty significant trasmutation for 2nd-level. The best candidate is increasing gravity's effect upon the weapon, because of all the gravity wells most prominently influencing the weapon, that of the earth will exert the strongest influence, barring an Entropomancer casting in the vicinity. Just have the object's mass increase, or some-such.

I absolutely agree with you; that's why I didn't assign a physical property to the spell in its description. I just left it vague and when pressed gave an even vaguer justification.

 

[ValhallaGH]

I conceived of it as a change in the weapon. Do you think it would be more appropriate as another school?

Nope. That was pretty close to what I was thinking. As I said, I was merely curious.
"I magic your weapon so that it wants to stick into the ground. The spell is a Transmutation effect."
"Duh."

 

[Fat Daddy]

Disclaimer: I am nowhere close to being a balance expert. End Disclaimer
I really like this spell. It has a very cinematic feel to it. I would like to see the 1 ray/round restriction go away. (and it will when I steal it for my campaign) I like the idea of a 17th level arcane caster disarming a group of thugs all at once rather than firing 1 ray per round to disarm them. It just seems more right.

JMO