Blasphemy

[Hypersmurf]

Re: Re: Behold the Blasphemous Kobold of Doom!

It would rather seem he is CR 18.

Yeah - the rule is that "Challenge Rating: Kobolds with levels in NPC classes have a CR equal to their character level –3."

Cleric and Heirophant are not NPC classes...

-Hyp.

 

[Bagpuss]

Hmm I must say my campaigns haven't yet got to a high enough level for this to be an issue, which is why I never noticed the change to 'unholy word' from 2nd Edition but...

I can't see why Blasphemy was made worse than Holy Word when they switched to 3rd Ed. I'll house rule it back to be identical to Holy Word except swap good for evil. Like it was in 2nd edition. There is no good reason for it to be any stronger they are the same level spell after all.

 

[Bauglir]

Blasphemy:

Any nonevil creature within the area of a blasphemy spell suffers the following ill effects.
HD Effect
Equal to caster level Dazed
Up to caster level –1 Weakened, dazed
Up to caster level –5 Paralyzed, weakened, dazed
Up to caster level –10 Killed, paralyzed, weakened, dazed

Holy Word

Any nongood creature within the area that hears the holy word suffers the following ill effects.
HD Effect
Equal to caster level Deafened
Up to caster level –1 Blinded, deafened
Up to caster level –5 Paralyzed, blinded, deafened
Up to caster level –10 Killed, paralyzed, blinded, deafened

Daze is certainly a much more powerful status ailment than Deafen, and weaken is arguably more powerful than blinding as well.

The daze effect DOES have a shorter duration, but this doesn't count for much when you can do the spell at will...

As for mind blank protecting against it, that is perhaps debatable (although I think it would do) since the spell itself does not have the [Mind-Affecting] descriptor.

The party caught unawares by a 17+th level evil wizard who teleports into their midst with a Balor that immediately starts to blaspheme automatically loses the encounter.

Of course with just another few levels under his belt that same wizard could teleport in shapechanged into a dream larva which would also result in a somewhat short encounter..

I am thoroughly unimpressed with the job WotC did on the spellcasting system. Many spells that didn't need it were weakened, while some of the most powerful spells in the game were actually made more powerful, to the point of being broken.

 

[Bagpuss]

Also on Sonic spells, if you are deaf before they effect you then that negates the need for a saving throw against mind-effecting effects of sonic spells, just not the damage. But since you don't get a saving throw for Blasphemy or Holy Word I'm not sure how this would work.

But interestingly the discription goes on to mention that specifically banishing works even if you don't hear the words. Which sort of implies by exclusion that the other stuff doesn't work if you don't hear it.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Also on Sonic spells, if you are deaf before they effect you then that negates the need for a saving throw against mind-effecting effects of sonic spells, just not the damage.

Blasphemy and Holy Word aren't Mind-Affecting.

But interestingly the discription goes on to mention that specifically banishing works even if you don't hear the words. Which sort of implies by exclusion that the other stuff doesn't work if you don't hear it.

It's a holdover from 3E, where the Dazed etc effects applied only to creatures who heard the word. They've removed that condition from the spells, but haven't changed the "even if you don't hear" text later in the spell.

-Hyp.

 

[Trainz]

So Hyp, we agree.

Now... if only WOTC would address that issue in an errata, I would be satisfied.

How do I proceed to have this implemented ?

 

[Intrope]

Silence and Greater Spell Immunity can completely negate Blasphemy. Holy Aura will help a little, giving a 1 in 5 chance that the Blasphemy doesn't effect each party member; Spell resistance is a little better, but only effects one person.

I think Freedom of Movement will also protect you (being dazed does prevent you from moving, so it should apply--but it isn't one of the examples listed in the spell description).

I agree though; dazed is a bit much (all 3 of the other spells have deafen as the first effect, too). Especially since all the defences are Cleric-only spells!

 

[Hypersmurf]

Silence and Greater Spell Immunity can completely negate Blasphemy.

Yes, but with Silence, your reaction has to be "A Balor just teleported in! I cast Silence!"

If you leave it so much as one round, you're in the cycle.

I think Freedom of Movement will also protect you (being dazed does prevent you from moving, so it should apply--but it isn't one of the examples listed in the spell description).

I wouldn't allow it. Daze, Stun, or the "do nothing but babble incoherently for one round" effect of Confusion are not effects that impeded movement. They're effects that cause you to do nothing, rather than moving. There's a difference.

-Hyp.

 

[AuraSeer]

Daze is certainly a much more powerful status ailment than Deafen, and weaken is arguably more powerful than blinding as well.

If the target's HD are exactly equal to the caster level, then yes, blasphemy is stronger. However, if there's even one point of difference, I'd argue that holy word is a better spell.

A target who is both blind and deaf is basically useless. Since he can't even make Listen checks to pinpoint an opponent, it's nearly impossible to make attacks of any kind. A spellcaster can start dropping area effects at random and hope to get lucky, but even then he suffers 20% spell failure.

A target who is dazed and weakened by can take no action for one round, but suffers no defensive penalties. When the daze wears off, the warrior characters will take minuses to hit and damage, but they can still attack; other classes probably won't be hampered very much. (A sorcerer reduced to Str 1 doesn't lose any of his spellcasting power.)

IMO, the only thing that makes blasphemy seem overpowering is the balor's ability to cast it every round. If that truly bothers anyone, it's easy to house rule the abilty to once per minute, or even less; there's no need to change the spell.

 

[AuraSeer]

The party caught unawares by a 17+th level evil wizard who teleports into their midst with a Balor that immediately starts to blaspheme automatically loses the encounter.

If you stipulate that the party is caught unaware and unprepared, and that a prepared enemy can teleport into their midst and gain surprise, why bother with the Balor? Screwing your PCs that way will nearly always give you a TPK, even if the wizard is alone.

A party that has time to prepare itself has far less to worry about. Defensive effects like spell immunity, holy aura, or even silence will make a Balor's blasphemy much less of a threat.