Dormant Spells and Contingency Focuses

[Kae'Yoss]

Since most spells with costly material components hardly ever see use (at least I hardly ever see them used), I came up with something that could make peopel use them more often: A new sort of material component that is only actually used up when it's actually needed. I call them contingency focus, and spells that would use them dormant spells.

When you cast a dormant spell, you need to have the contingency focus, and it works like a focus. Then, the spell potentially protects you. When then there's a situation where you could use the spells protection, you would activate it (this would either be an immediate action, or an instant action*) and part or all of the focus is used up, like a normal material component.

*A free action you can take out of turn. Instant actions are for free actions what immediate actions are for swift actions.


Stoneskin could look like this:


Stoneskin
Abjuration [dormant]
Level: Drd 5, Earth 6, Sor/Wiz 4, Strength 6
Components: V, S, M, CF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 10 min./level (dormant)
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)


The warded creature gains resistance to blows, cuts, stabs, and slashes. During the spell's duration, you can activate it as an instant action to gain damaga reduction 10/adamantine for an attack that hit you. The spell can prevent a total of 10 points of damage per caster level (maximum 150 points)

Material Component
Granite sprinkled on the targets's skin

Contingency Focus:
150 gp worth of diamond dust. Each point of damage prevented uses up 1gp

 

[GeorgeFields]

Why not make it a meta-magic feat : Dormant Spell

 

[ChimericDream]

I had actually just made a feat similar to this.

Delayed Spell

 

[Kae'Yoss]

A delayed spell has a big disadvantage, though: It's a swift action. This means that you can't activate it to defend against the incoming blow.

Plus you'll still have to use up the material component in full, and might have wasted it without getting anything out of it.

The problem I see with spells like stoneskin is that they're hardly ever used, because they cost a lot of money, and it may be that you blow all that money on a spell that will never get to actually do anything for you. Hence the idea of using up the component only at the moment you get something out of the spell, and only as much as the spell helped you. You won't blow the whole 250gp for stoneskin if all it does is block a single strike from a sick goblin for 1 point of damage.

 

[ChimericDream]

Perhaps making it an immediate action, then? I'd be hesitant to give players an option where they can basically cast boatloads of buff spells at the beginning of the day while saving a good chunk of money on component costs in the process. Didn't use it today? That's ok, you still have the whole component left, so you can cast it every day until it works! Since there's no down side to using a dormant spell, everybody will stop using the original versions and stick with the dormant ones.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Perhaps making it an immediate action, then? I'd be hesitant to give players an option where they can basically cast boatloads of buff spells at the beginning of the day while saving a good chunk of money on component costs in the process.

Those spells don't last all day. They can't cast them in the morning and be protected all day.

Since there's no down side to using a dormant spell, everybody will stop using the original versions and stick with the dormant ones.

They're meant to replace the normal spells, because, well, they suck. I haven't seen stoneskin cast even a single time, because you have to pay 250 gil, but it's quite possible that you don't encounter anything in the 70 minutes the spell's active.

There's still the downside that you have to cast the spell, use a spellslot for it. I'm not suggesting that their casting time is lengthened, the spell level lowered or anything.

Plus, this could be used to balance some of the spells that are a bit too good now. So There's energy immunity which lasts all day - right now, without my rule, you just use your slot. It could be turned into a dormant spell, though, and you pay a certain amount of gil for the damage it absorbs. Magic Vestment and Magic Weapon could require some materials to activate, and so on.

 

[Pyrex]

I think you've got two different concepts you're rolling into one here; let me see if I've got it straight as they should both be evaluated seperately.

1) Short duration Buff spells become Contingent effects.

Stoneskin generally lasts 10min/CL. Under this variant (which, IMO, looks like a +3 or +4 level metamagic feat) you cast the spell, the spell does not immediately take effect, but the duration is suspended (i.e., contingent) until the caster uses an Immediate action to activate the spell.

Neat idea, but it certainly shouldn't be free. This is what Contingency is for. I could certainly see creating a Contingent Spell metamagic feat, but it seems redundant when Craft Contingent Spell was already published in CArc.

2) Costly material components are only expended when the spell actually does something.

Normally Stoneskin requires 250gp worth of diamond dust as a material component. This component is used up even if the Stoneskin never actually absorbs any damage.

Under this variant, the costly component is removed and replaced with an ablative Focus component that degrades with use.

This effect certainly isn't generalizeable to all spells with costly components, but overall I like the concept. Using this variant I'd probably rewrite Stoneskin as follows:

[B]Ablative Stoneskin[/B]
Abjuration 
Level: Sor/Wiz 5
Components: V, S, AF
...
Duration: 10 min./level 
...


The warded creature gains resistance ... 10/adamantine.
Each time the DR prevents damage the Ablative Focus drops 
in value by 2gp for each HP of damage negated.  

The spell ends if the value of the Focus reaches 0gp.

Ablative Focus:
A diamond worth at least 100gp.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I think you've got two different concepts you're rolling into one here

Sort of: The two concepts are another concept together.

1) Short duration Buff spells become Contingent effects.

Stoneskin generally lasts 10min/CL. Under this variant (which, IMO, looks like a +3 or +4 level metamagic feat) you cast the spell, the spell does not immediately take effect, but the duration is suspended (i.e., contingent) until the caster uses an Immediate action to activate the spell.

Not quite: When you cast the spell, it's dormant for 10 min/level. During the time, you can activate it as often as you want, as an instant action, to repel a single attack.

You could, alternately, say that it activates on its own whenever you're attacked. That takes some of the control away from the caster (he can't let attacks through), but that might be okay, too.

The activation isn't really a crucial point here. I was just something to work with the material component-on-demand.

2) Costly material components are only expended when the spell actually does something.

Normally Stoneskin requires 250gp worth of diamond dust as a material component. This component is used up even if the Stoneskin never actually absorbs any damage.

Under this variant, the costly component is removed and replaced with an ablative Focus component that degrades with use.

Exactly. I called them Contingency Focus, but the effect is the same: A focus that turns into a material component (and is used up) when the spell actually does something.

This effect certainly isn't generalizeable to all spells with costly components

No, it isn't, but some can work with it, and work well. Plus, as I said, some spells without component could be changed to use this, in order to balance them somewhat.

Using this variant I'd probably rewrite Stoneskin as follows:

[B]Ablative Stoneskin[/B]
Abjuration 
Level: Sor/Wiz 5
Components: V, S, AF
...
Duration: 10 min./level 
...


The warded creature gains resistance ... 10/adamantine.
Each time the DR prevents damage the Ablative Focus drops 
in value by 2gp for each HP of damage negated.  

The spell ends if the value of the Focus reaches 0gp.

Ablative Focus:
A diamond worth at least 100gp.

Something like that. I still would put a limit to the spell (so you can't load yourself with a couple of thousand gil worth of diamond and wade through an army of goblins unharmed), but you generally got it.