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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cheiromancer" data-source="post: 3122683" data-attributes="member: 141">The energy blast seedSeed: Energy Blast Evocation [Acid, Cold, Electricity, Fire, Force, or Sonic]Root Spell: Delayed blast fireball, lightning boltSpellcraft Prerequisite: 24 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: 1200 ft. Area or Effect: A 120 ft. line, or a 20-ft. radius spreadDuration: Instantaneous Saving Throw: Reflex halfSpell Resistance: Yes This seed uses whichever one of four energy types the caster chooses: acid, cold, electricity, or fire. The caster can cast the energy forth as a line or a spread.  The default values for energy type and area may be set during spell development, but can be changed at the moment of spellcasting to one of the options just mentioned.Factor: If you have eliminated this element of flexibility, reduce the Spellcraft Prerequisite by 4.Factors: The caster may choose to develop a spell which defaults to another type of damaging energy. The options and the associated costs are as follows: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sonic energy (+4 SP).  The spell receives the [sonic] descriptor.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Slashing, piercing or bludgeoning  (+6 SP).  This damage bypasses Damage Reduction.  To have the spell damage interact with Damage Reduction as a magical weapon of the appropriate type, reduce the SP modifier to +4.  If the damage will be treated as a non-magical weapon of the appropriate type, reduce the SP modifier to +2. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Force damage (+6 SP).  The spell receives the [force] descriptor.  Force damage affects incorporeal and ethereal creatures, but not objects; to include objects, increase the Spellcraft Prerequisite by an additonal +1.  </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Aligned damage (+8 SP). The spell gains an alignment descriptor that matches one component of the caster's alignment (good, evil, chaotic, lawful).  If two descriptors are possible, the caster may choose; true neutral casters may not choose this option.  Creatures of an opposed alignment have a -2 penalty to their saving throws. The damage is retains its energy type but is considered divine and is thus not subject to energy resistance or immunity; vulnerable creatures will still get extra damage, however.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Typeless (+8). The spell loses the energy descriptor. The damage is of no particular type, and is not subject to resistance or energy immunity.</li> </ul>A spell developed using the [energy] seed releases a bolt or spread which deals 25d6 points of damage of the appropriate energy type, and all in the spell’s Area must make a Reflex save for half damage. If a line is chosen, it begins at the caster’s fingertips; a spread begins as a pellet of energy which detonates at a distance determined by the caster, unless it strikes some intervening body or barrier, in the same manner as a fireball. Factor: Delay (special). To delay the effect of the spell, increase the Spellcraft Prerequisite by +1 for every 2 rounds (or fraction thereof) that the spell can be delayed. See delayed blast fireball for details.Factor: Cannot be Raised (+1 SP). You may increase the Spellcraft Prerequisite by +1 to ensure that the bodies of those slain by the spell are damaged in such a way that renders raise dead (but not resurrection) ineffective. The flavor of this effect is specified to harmonize with the type of damage dealt. One spell might cause the bodies to burn to ashes, another will cause them to shatter into icy fragments, and so on.Factor: Death Magic (-3 SP).  The spell gains the [death] descriptor, and only works against living creatures.  Creatures slain by death magic cannot be raised (the Cannot be Raised factor is included; don't purchase it separately).Factors: The damage done by the spell can be modified by the following factors:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">(+1 SP) Increase the base damage by +1d6.  This factor stacks.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">(+6 SP) Empower. Increase the damage by 50% of the base value.  This factor stacks; every +12 SP doubles the base damage (remember that a double double is a triple).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">(+9 SP) Maximize.  The spell does damage equal to the maximum value that can be rolled as base damage. The benefit of this factor is separate from Empower; an empowered maximized spell deals points of damage equal to the maximum result plus one-half the normally rolled result.  This feat stacks with itself; each time it is added the spell deals an amount of damage equal to the maximum possible base damage.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">(+2 SP) Skew. Double the damage on a failed save, but reduce the damage done on a successful save to 5 dice.  This reduction undoes any effects which increase the base damage by a number of dice or by a multiple or percentage (such as Empower).  The damage done on a successful save may, however, be maximized.</li> </ul>The discardable flexibility provision assumes that there is a base 8th level spell (SP 20) with a damage cap of 25d6.  This hypothetical spell is otherwise like a fireball, and is the basis of the seed.  It's also the base spell for krustean spellcasters and their AMC feats.The inflated values for Empower and Maximize were mandated by a comparison of jacobian and krustean spellcasters (see below).  Various intuitions converged on these results.The energy type factors might use some tinkering.  Aligned damage is helpful against various outsiders with specialized regeneration; I debated whether to allow it to arcane casters (it has a divine feel) but I thought the matching-alignment restriction would be enough.  I was thinking of including this factor:• Positive/negative energy (+8 SP).  The spell loses its energy descriptor.  Objects are not harmed by positive/negative energy.  Undead are vulnerable to positive energy (they take half again as much (+50%) damage as normal from the effect, as if it was empowered) but are healed by negative energy.  Disintegrate can be modeled by a skewed, typeless, individualized [energy blast].  (The area => one creature factor of -6 SP should be a standard factor.  Should I include it in the list anyway?)  Finger of death can be modeled by a maximized death magic disintegrate.  I therefore suggest that the [slay] and [destroy] seeds be folded into [energy blast] under the death magic and skew factors, respectively.  Clerics for whom [slay] or [destroy] is appropriate may get access to the relevant part of the [energy blast] seed, of course; this access would be similar to fire clerics getting access to [fire] spells but not other types.To see how krustean and jacobian casters compare, suppose that a 39th level krustean sorcerer takes Improved Metamagic, Automatic Metamagic Capacity x 11 and Enhance Spell as his epic feats.  Assuming an 8th level 25d6 spell as a base, he will be able to add 12 levels of metamagic if he uses his 9th level spell slots (of which he has 8 if he is a sorcerer with a 39 charisma).  Enhance uses 4 levels, and 4 Empowers uses the rest (105d6 damage).  The jacobean sorcerer might have Spell Revelation x 2, Epic Spell Capacity x 3 and 8 AMC, and has 38 SP to play with (42 base + 16 from AMC, and a seed of 20 SP assuming the flexible casting provision is discarded to free up 4 SP.)  6 Empowers will use 36 points, and +2 will increase the base damage to 27d6.  That'll be 104d6.[edit]Bad math.  He's better to use 4 empowers for 24 points and raise the base damage by +14 to 39d6.  Then the total would be 3 * 39d6 = 117d6.  Better than parity.  In view of later remarks, this is too good.The jacobian sorcerer can thus match the krustean sorcerer in damage output, and has the same number of spell slots for these top-drawer fireballs.  A jacobian wizard has one less epic spell slot than krustean wizard has 9th level spell slots, but probably has more flexibility in his epic spells than the krustean wizard can manage with his metamagically enhanced non-epic spells.  Of course, the krustean wizard can better use those non-epic spells (11 AMC vs 8).  However, while the krustean wizard has used up all the 9th level spell slots, the jacobian wizard still has all his.  The two are pretty comparable, I think.[edit]Actually, I don't think this will work.  The use of Empower and Maximize has to be scaled back, if it is allowed at all.</blockquote>

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