Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
D&D Older Editions
[D&D 3.5] What exactly is the proper calculation for an Empowered Spell with static modifiers?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="AsteriX97" data-source="post: 8786263" data-attributes="member: 7038041"><p>Hi, everyone!</p><p></p><p>Apologies for asking such a decade-old question, when there are numerous threads on the net about this, but it is exactly because of those threads that I am making this one as well.</p><p></p><p>Many users whose replies I've read on many various forums just can't come to an agreement on how Empower Spell should be interpreted when it comes to static modifiers.</p><p></p><p>Either they conclude that Empower Spell's calculation includes <strong>static modifiers</strong> in the calculation process, or that only the <strong>variables</strong> are multiplied, and static modifiers are added on top of the result.</p><p></p><p>As someone who is trying to create custom spells for the game Neverwinter Nights, I have to bring some closure to this to know which ruling should I use, and how should I interpret this feat's calculation.</p><p></p><p>This is because the metamagic damage (from Empower Spell, Maximize Spell, etc.) is done via scripting, meaning you calculate the damage manually into the spell you're trying to create, depending on the metamagic the spell uses.</p><p></p><p>For a refresher, here is the feat's description directly taken from the PHB:</p><p></p><p></p><p>~ <strong>PHB</strong> p.93</p><p></p><p>So far the ruling seems pretty straightforward, if you have an XdY variable spell (e.g. <a href="https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fireball.htm" target="_blank">Fireball</a>), all you need to do is roll the die X amounts of times, and multiply the result by 1.5 (e.g. 10d6 on a Fireball, let's say I rolled a 36, then all I need to do is multiply it by 1.5 and the final result from the empowered fireball (36 x 1.5) = 54 damage), simple right?</p><p></p><p>But the problem comes when we add static modifiers to the mix here. For example, let's use <a href="https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/cureLightWounds.htm" target="_blank">Cure Light Wounds</a> whose numeric variable cures 1d8 hit points +1 static point per caster level (max. +5), and in this case, let's assume we're CL 5</p><p></p><p>Now, the main question comes. Is the proper Empower Spell calculation something like this:</p><p></p><p>or like this:</p><p></p><p>and the results from these two examples are pretty different.</p><p></p><p>Let's say I rolled an <strong>8</strong>. In the first example, the final result ((8 x 1.5) + 5) would be = <strong>17</strong>, whereas, in the second example with the same roll, the final result would be (13 x 1.5) = <strong>19</strong> (19.5 to be exact).</p><p></p><p>The higher the static modifier is, the bigger the difference between these two methods are.</p><p></p><p>If we use another example, this time: <a href="https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/cureCriticalWounds.htm" target="_blank">Cure Critical Wounds</a> which heals for 4d8 +1/CL (max. +20), and let's assume we're at CL 20, and have rolled an average of 4d8, which is <strong>18</strong>.</p><p></p><p>The first example calculation would yield a result of <strong>47</strong> (18 x 1.5 + 20 = 47), whereas the second calculation's example would be <strong>57</strong> ((18 + 20) x 1.5 = 57), an entire 10 points difference.</p><p></p><p>According to the PHB's definition, I'm more inclined to believe that the second method of calculation is the correct way of calculating the Empowered spell, but some people are adamant that the first method <strong>IS</strong> the <strong>ONLY</strong> way to calculate it, and that the feat's description can be misinterpreted to believe that the second example is the right one.</p><p></p><p>So, in your opinion, which is the correct way, and why?</p><p></p><p>Thanks in forward, and I apologize for such a long post, I just wanted to get closure on this, so I wanted to present as much info as possible.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AsteriX97, post: 8786263, member: 7038041"] Hi, everyone! Apologies for asking such a decade-old question, when there are numerous threads on the net about this, but it is exactly because of those threads that I am making this one as well. Many users whose replies I've read on many various forums just can't come to an agreement on how Empower Spell should be interpreted when it comes to static modifiers. Either they conclude that Empower Spell's calculation includes [B]static modifiers[/B] in the calculation process, or that only the [B]variables[/B] are multiplied, and static modifiers are added on top of the result. As someone who is trying to create custom spells for the game Neverwinter Nights, I have to bring some closure to this to know which ruling should I use, and how should I interpret this feat's calculation. This is because the metamagic damage (from Empower Spell, Maximize Spell, etc.) is done via scripting, meaning you calculate the damage manually into the spell you're trying to create, depending on the metamagic the spell uses. For a refresher, here is the feat's description directly taken from the PHB: ~ [B]PHB[/B] p.93 So far the ruling seems pretty straightforward, if you have an XdY variable spell (e.g. [URL='https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fireball.htm']Fireball[/URL]), all you need to do is roll the die X amounts of times, and multiply the result by 1.5 (e.g. 10d6 on a Fireball, let's say I rolled a 36, then all I need to do is multiply it by 1.5 and the final result from the empowered fireball (36 x 1.5) = 54 damage), simple right? But the problem comes when we add static modifiers to the mix here. For example, let's use [URL='https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/cureLightWounds.htm']Cure Light Wounds[/URL] whose numeric variable cures 1d8 hit points +1 static point per caster level (max. +5), and in this case, let's assume we're CL 5 Now, the main question comes. Is the proper Empower Spell calculation something like this: or like this: and the results from these two examples are pretty different. Let's say I rolled an [B]8[/B]. In the first example, the final result ((8 x 1.5) + 5) would be = [B]17[/B], whereas, in the second example with the same roll, the final result would be (13 x 1.5) = [B]19[/B] (19.5 to be exact). The higher the static modifier is, the bigger the difference between these two methods are. If we use another example, this time: [URL='https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/cureCriticalWounds.htm']Cure Critical Wounds[/URL] which heals for 4d8 +1/CL (max. +20), and let's assume we're at CL 20, and have rolled an average of 4d8, which is [B]18[/B]. The first example calculation would yield a result of [B]47[/B] (18 x 1.5 + 20 = 47), whereas the second calculation's example would be [B]57[/B] ((18 + 20) x 1.5 = 57), an entire 10 points difference. According to the PHB's definition, I'm more inclined to believe that the second method of calculation is the correct way of calculating the Empowered spell, but some people are adamant that the first method [B]IS[/B] the [B]ONLY[/B] way to calculate it, and that the feat's description can be misinterpreted to believe that the second example is the right one. So, in your opinion, which is the correct way, and why? Thanks in forward, and I apologize for such a long post, I just wanted to get closure on this, so I wanted to present as much info as possible. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
D&D Older Editions
[D&D 3.5] What exactly is the proper calculation for an Empowered Spell with static modifiers?
Top