Custom Spells (Revised 7-18-2006)

[stonegod]

Also, I'm wondering what skill is used to create ciphers, I want to create a gnomish cryptologist and don't really know.

Decipher script, as stated in CompAdventurer, I think. Its using it in reverse.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Ah... well a symbol based cipher could do... perhaps limiting by alphabet would be the best way to do it. Point well made Rystil.

Cool... decipher script it is then! Now, whether to make my gnomish cryptologist a wizard, an archivist (once they get approved) or wait for the beguiler to get approved in November.

Actually, an Archivist might be perfect for that--I love my little Archivist, and I know she got Decipher Script bonuses from something.

@stonegod--too slow

 

[Rystil Arden]

Also, while I want all the players to like my rules creations, I really should pander to the judges. Who are you, so that I might know who's posterior to kiss?

That would be me--while my tendency to try to help work out balance has not changed from LEW, on LEB I can vote one way or the other

 

[stonegod]

@stonegod--too slow

Ah, but like any good academic, I quoted a source.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Ah, but like any good academic, I quoted a source.

But you quoted a source that we don't allow yet That's...treason! Red security access revoked Citisen!

 

[IcyCool]

This is partially conflated with my answer to Ferrix. Let's say I'm a human who speaks common, and I create a cipher with symbols that mean nothing normally (curly line #1 means A, squiggle #2 means B, etc). The spell would read my cipher in perfect Common and decipher it, wouldn't it? If not, how in Khyber is it reading the dwarven runes that are just squiggles to me also?

Ah, I see the concern. I was just figuring it would read actual languages (as per the speak language and monster manual entries), not made up gibberish. The easiest way to shore that up is by limiting it to reading only languages the caster knows. So, with the limitation that it can only read texts written in languages the caster knows, has a voice that is obviously illusory, and the clarification that the skull doesn't count as "a creature with a language", is the hovering effect still too powerful, or should I remove that as well?

 

[Ferrix]

Ah, I see the concern. I was just figuring it would read actual languages (as per the speak language and monster manual entries), not made up gibberish. The easiest way to shore that up is by limiting it to reading only languages the caster knows. So, with the limitation that it can only read texts written in languages the caster knows, has a voice that is obviously illusory, and the clarification that the skull doesn't count as "a creature with a language", is the hovering effect still too powerful, or should I remove that as well?

Add the stipulation I mentioned regarding the hovering; that it can only read texts written with alphabets the character knows (slightly different than languages the character knows), and the other two and it should be fine.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Ah, I see the concern. I was just figuring it would read actual languages (as per the speak language and monster manual entries), not made up gibberish. The easiest way to shore that up is by limiting it to reading only languages the caster knows. So, with the limitation that it can only read texts written in languages the caster knows, has a voice that is obviously illusory, and the clarification that the skull doesn't count as "a creature with a language", is the hovering effect still too powerful, or should I remove that as well?

Is it really made up gibberish if it was created by someone specifically to have those sounds? (though only that one person in all the multiverse knows what it means) I would contest that as far as the caster or the spell knows, this new language that only one person knows is just as valid as, say, Quor (assuming the caster doesn't know Quor or the alphabet of Quor). It should need to treat them both the same, and it wouldn't be fair to be able to read them, so it should fail on both.

As Ferrix mentioned again, it's fine with his stipulation on the floating combined with my slightly looser restriction that it reads languages written in any alphabet you know, though if it is not a language you know, it will pronounce it phonetically based on the alphabet (an example of this is Celtic names written in the English alphabet--the spell would probably pronounce Niamh as nee-AHM rather than NEEV).

 

[Bront]

Could you maybe explain to me why you think it's a 1st level spell? I can pay someone to read a book to me, and that's all this spell does. How is it more powerful than ghost sound? I'm genuinely curious, what about this spell says to you, '1st level spell'? And what would you change to make a 0-level spell?

Unseen Servant is of similar power and duration, and it's a 1st level spell. Also, it allows you to avoid some of the nasty script traps (Sepia Snake Sigil, Explosive runes).

Agreed on the limit for how long the creature has been dead. And I originally thought it should be divination, but a quick look at speak with dead shows a similar ability that is Necromancy. I'll happily change it to divination if you like. And as far as the whole material req thing, I figured it was a bit thematically appropriate, what with the whole crow carrior eater schtick.

I didn't look up speak with dead, it was just a thought at first look. It's probably fine as a Necromatic spell.

As it stands, they have no turning resistance. They can be turned normally, they just can't be rebuked/controlled.

That's more what I ment, but yes, having some turning resistance would make some sense. Duration has been mentioned already.

The caster can't speak through the target (nor is that mentioned in there). Agreed on the suicidal save as well.

It's not mentioned he can't, and speaking is an ability.

Except, of course, for the line that reads, "This spell has no effect on a creature that has no skeletal structure, like a purple worm."

Missed that. Though many spells that target creatures like this have a size limit. You could always have a size limit that increases with caster level, though if it's a 4th level spell, I guess it's not that bad.

 

[Ferrix]

Unseen Servant is of similar power and duration, and it's a 1st level spell. Also, it allows you to avoid some of the nasty script traps (Sepia Snake Sigil, Explosive runes).

Actually, it is alot weaker than unseen servant. An unseen servant can trigger traps, carry up to 20 lbs. or drag up to 100 lbs, open doors, etc. The unseen servant can be directed to perform a multitude of common tasks and even some particularly dangerous ones, however the book reading skull can only do that, read text outloud, it may let a clever character notice a script trap, but with the stipulation that it doesn't activate magical traps it's only letting the character using it know that a part of the text is magical (as it only reads non-magical text), a detect magic (0th level spell) could do the same.