Blade Barrier - Overpowered? I think so.

[Zhure]

and to top it off it's another 1 turn casting time spell..... someone makes their spellcraft check and shouts "hey guys he's casting blade barrier go kill him." In and of itself this spell isnt as dangerous as you think

Adding to that line of thought, since the caster has to declare his target at the beginning of casting, everyone can just move and probably will be safe before it even goes off.

 

[dcollins]

Finally some attack spells for the clerc and a powerfull one to, np with it.

You know, blade barrier has been part of D&D (at the exact same level, although fixed at 8d8 damage) since at least the AD&D 1st Ed. Player's Handbook (1978).

 

[drnuncheon]

Adding to that line of thought, since the caster has to declare his target at the beginning of casting, everyone can just move and probably will be safe before it even goes off.

...except that they don't necessarily know where the target is going to be. You have to decide your target at casting time, but that doesn't mean that you have to tell your opponents where it is.

J

 

[Shard O'Glase]

None of that changes that it breaks the damage caps for even arcane casters at its level. Whether a possible 20d6 alters the fabric of time and space in your games or not is irrelevent. As a 6th level AoE divine spell it's damage should cap out at I beleive(no books) 15d6 at the max. Add in that it provides cover as well and lasts for a long time and it gains a lot more than it looses from its casting time. Look at other damaging barier spells,and say hey its divine not arcane where should it be. Frankly it should be around the damage of fire wall(a bit more but not much since it has 1 round casting time smaller wall, though it's orientation is more flexible and its slashing damage a small plus), because that's a 4th level damaging wall spell for arcane casters, so an extra 2 levels for a damaging wall spell when divine is about right.

 

[Victim]

I don't think it's over powered.

It has a full round casting time. Either you're vulnerable to interruption for a whole round, or you give up the chance to cast 2 spells if hasted. At higher levels, both the downsides to a full round casting increase in importance.

It is also reflex negates. Do you think evasion is good? How much weaker would fireball be if everyone had evasion? That's the way blade barrier works. If you catch 4 targets and 2 save then you do 30d6 instead of the 45d6 a save for half would do.

Finally, once the spell is cast, the blades essentially become a neutral feature - unless simple destruction of the surrounding area is the goal. The blades are like a lava pit; only the very reckless or the poor sap who gets pushed in take damage from it. Also, since the spell isn't (D), the duration can be very inconvient, possibly barring a critical area for a few hours and wasting time on buff spells.

 

[Fade]

Or you can be a bastard like Velendo and wrap a solid wall around them before filling the cavity with a blade barrier.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

None of that changes that it breaks the damage caps for even arcane casters at its level.

Creeping Doom. Prismatic Wall. Meteor Swarm. Nah. It's only powerful if your foes can't (or won't) move, and, let's face it, a hold monster or Otto's Irresistable Dance puts the victim one step away from death, anyway.

Nasty with Web, though

 

[Anubis]

Harm does MUCH more damage than Blade Barrier, and gets no saving throw. Harm is the only thing broken of the 6th-level spells.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

I would rule that you cannot summon it IN a solid surface, like a wall, and thus it would do nothing against structures. Most other spells are like this. Otherwise you could summon a Wall of Fire INSIDE a wooden wall, where it could not be put out save by breaking the wall. Purpose served either way.

Now that Wall of Stone or Web + Blade Barrier is just evil. Who is Velendo, anyway? I think I like him.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

You don't know who Velendo is?
See the Story Hour forum called Defenders of Daybreak