Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon 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 Next
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!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
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
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
EN Publishing
Elements of Magic: Questions for the Designer
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="Staffan" data-source="post: 1796586" data-attributes="member: 907"><p>I'd just swap Stun and Hold. While Power Word: Stun is an 8th level spell, there are stunning effects available at much lower levels. The first that comes to mind is not even magic - the monk's Stunning Fist. She can use that as early as 1st level, though it only lasts for one round. There's also the 2nd level spell <em>sound burst</em> that stuns people in a 10-foot burst (in addition to damage), but that's only for one round too. If you look at psionics, you have <em>energy stun</em> that's a 2nd level power, does a small amount of damage, and has a chance of stunning for one round as well (though you have to fail two saves: first the Reflex save for half damage, then a Will save for the stun). There's also, of course, <em>psionic blast</em> that stuns creatures in a 30 ft cone for one round, and can be augmented to have a higher duration.</p><p></p><p>All these ways of stunning have one thing in common: stunning is a brief matter. You get a jolt of stunning, but you shake it off in a round or so. Perhaps stunning doesn't belong in the Charm (Creature) list at all (which is geared toward relatively long-term effects - at least using the basic 1 minute duration plus extensions). It might be better suited to being a side effect of Evoke Sonic or Evoke Lightning - if so, the basic Stun effect should be pretty cheap, but longer stuns should cost more (perhaps 2 MP for basic stun, and 3-4 MP per round's duration increase).</p><p></p><p>::looks at the actual rules::</p><p></p><p>Hey, wouldya look at that? Stun already <strong>is</strong> a side effect of Evoke Lightning. Though I think the duration is a little excessive - 2 rounds per MP seems pretty long compared to the basic stun duration in other parts of the system of 1 round. I think reversing the relationship would work better: 2 MP/round of stun, still with a save each round to negate (I'd have the save turn the stun into daze for current round first though - if you're stunned for 5 rounds, but succeed on your third save, you will be spending a total of 2 rounds stunned, one round dazed, and then be free to act).</p><p></p><p>Something could also be added to the Compel spell list. After all, the description says "You can even Compel a creature so that it feels in its mind as though it’s being injured," but there's no mention of that in the actual effects you can do with it.</p><p></p><p>But what about the Charm tree, then? I would either have the make it Dazed/Held/Unconscious, or move Held up to the Strong effect and find something else to fill the Moderate effect with. Hmm... maybe Slowed/Dazed/Held? Nah, that doesn't work either, being slowed gives you a penalty to defense, which dazed does not do. Oh well, that's why you guys get paid for doing this, not me.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Staffan, post: 1796586, member: 907"] I'd just swap Stun and Hold. While Power Word: Stun is an 8th level spell, there are stunning effects available at much lower levels. The first that comes to mind is not even magic - the monk's Stunning Fist. She can use that as early as 1st level, though it only lasts for one round. There's also the 2nd level spell [i]sound burst[/i] that stuns people in a 10-foot burst (in addition to damage), but that's only for one round too. If you look at psionics, you have [i]energy stun[/i] that's a 2nd level power, does a small amount of damage, and has a chance of stunning for one round as well (though you have to fail two saves: first the Reflex save for half damage, then a Will save for the stun). There's also, of course, [i]psionic blast[/i] that stuns creatures in a 30 ft cone for one round, and can be augmented to have a higher duration. All these ways of stunning have one thing in common: stunning is a brief matter. You get a jolt of stunning, but you shake it off in a round or so. Perhaps stunning doesn't belong in the Charm (Creature) list at all (which is geared toward relatively long-term effects - at least using the basic 1 minute duration plus extensions). It might be better suited to being a side effect of Evoke Sonic or Evoke Lightning - if so, the basic Stun effect should be pretty cheap, but longer stuns should cost more (perhaps 2 MP for basic stun, and 3-4 MP per round's duration increase). ::looks at the actual rules:: Hey, wouldya look at that? Stun already [b]is[/b] a side effect of Evoke Lightning. Though I think the duration is a little excessive - 2 rounds per MP seems pretty long compared to the basic stun duration in other parts of the system of 1 round. I think reversing the relationship would work better: 2 MP/round of stun, still with a save each round to negate (I'd have the save turn the stun into daze for current round first though - if you're stunned for 5 rounds, but succeed on your third save, you will be spending a total of 2 rounds stunned, one round dazed, and then be free to act). Something could also be added to the Compel spell list. After all, the description says "You can even Compel a creature so that it feels in its mind as though it’s being injured," but there's no mention of that in the actual effects you can do with it. But what about the Charm tree, then? I would either have the make it Dazed/Held/Unconscious, or move Held up to the Strong effect and find something else to fill the Moderate effect with. Hmm... maybe Slowed/Dazed/Held? Nah, that doesn't work either, being slowed gives you a penalty to defense, which dazed does not do. Oh well, that's why you guys get paid for doing this, not me. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
EN Publishing
Elements of Magic: Questions for the Designer
Top