Fair 1st level Spell?

[Evilhalfling]

you lengthend the stun??
That was by far the most difficult part of the spell.
trading one of your actions to deny the opponent several is a good idea. the other spells that can accomplish this, Tasha's Laughter and Hold Person are both more dependent on target type, and both mind effecting. This spell is more easily applied.

My Advice? Raise the Damage, lower the stun.

 

[Nifft]

IMHO Stun is a very strong effect, even if Monks can do it at 1st level. The disarming side-effect can be brutal, particularly if you're a spellcaster with a valuable Wand, Staff or Rod. (This happened to a flying Wizard in my game... his player is still bitter when he recalls how much that wand cost.)

However, I like the idea that a critical hit is stronger than a regular hit.

A 1st level spell could deal non-lethal damage and Daze an opponent for 1 round; on a critical hit, it could deal lethal damage or Stun for 1 round instead, at the player's option.

So:
- Close range.
- Non-lethal damage (1d4 +1/level, max +10) and Fort save or Daze for 1 round.
- Lethal damage on a crit (2d4 +2/level, max +20) or Stun for 1 round (no save), player's choice. Things that are immune to crits are immune to these effects.
- If you don't take any electrical damage, you are immune to the secondary effect (no need to save).

Then it becomes a great spell for law-enforcement officers and bounty hunters.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Ilium]

a stunned creature is not helpless, so an ally could not CDG.

D'oh! My bad. Even so, I think a 1-round stun is more appropriate.

 

[Sigurd]

My DM increased the stun when he moved it to 2nd level.

What about making it 1d4 + 1/2 the difference between caster\target levels?

So a 5th level wizard strikes a 1st level mook it's 1d4 +2.
A 1st level wizard strikes a 5th level mook its 1d4 -2.
Perhaps a minimum of 1 rnd stun on a failed save.


What about that sort of mechanic?


- Sigurd

 

[Nifft]

What about making it 1d4 + 1/2 the difference between caster\target levels?

Ugh. Anything exposing HD directly is a bad thing. (This very emphatically includes sleep and Turn Undead.)

Fort saves are good.

Hold person is a 2nd level spell (for Clerics), so I'd base the duration of the secondary effect off that. Allow it to Daze the target for up to 1 round/level, with a new save every round to remove the effect.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Arkhandus]

As Nifft said.

Don't increase the stun. Sound Burst is a 2nd-level spell and doesn't cause that much stunning.

Increase the damage slightly if making it 2nd-level (add half caster level to damage, maybe), but don't jack up the already-significant stun duration. 1-4 rounds of doing nothing but standing around as an especially-easy-to-hit target can be very bad. Especially if the victim is an enemy mage (what with their low Fortitude and low HP).

As a 1st-level spell, I'd say its stun duration is too long. If the stun were reduced to just 1 round, it'd still be a fine 1st-level spell, compared to the 0-level Daze and the 1st-level Sleep/Color Spray/Shocking Grasp.

 

[the Jester]

As a first level spell I'd say it's reasonable if you lower the stun duration to 1 round.

As a second level spell I'd say it's reasonable if you increase the damage to 1d8+1/level (max +10) and stun 1 round.

If you really want the stun duration, I'd say that 1d8+1/level (max +10) and stun 1d4 rounds +1/2 levels is worth at least a 3rd-level spell.

 

[Sigurd]

I really appreciate all the consideration you guys have given it.

How is this? I moved the original damage into the critical affect.

Evocation [Electricity]
Level: Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: Ray
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude partial; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes
A ray of electrical energy projects from your pointing finger. You must succeed on a ranged touch attack with the ray to strike a target. You gain a +3 bonus on attack rolls if the opponent is wearing metal armor (or made out of metal, carrying a lot of metal, or the like).

The ray deals 1d4 points of electrical nonlethal damage and the target must make a Fortitude saving throw or be stunned for 1 round. On a critical hit, the target takes 1d4+2 points of nonlethal electrical damage and must make a fortitude save or be stunned for 1d4 rounds.

Material Component: A scale from a shocker lizard.



I really like the mechanic where you are stunned until you make your saving throw or 4 rounds have elapsed. It involves the target in their recovery. Unfortunately I think its too powerful for a 1st level spell. Perhaps that would be the mechanic for a 2nd level spell.




Sigurd

 

[Maldor]

It's weak. I don't know why you guys think this thing is over the top. I would almost never cast it 1d4 total ever, to one target that you have to make a attack roll on, then they get a save, a fort save most monsters best save and your worried that it has no hit die limit. By the time this is better then sleep or colorspray becuase of hit die the monsters are going to fail that save maybe 10% of the time it is damn hard to raise your spell DCs to match the save mods
For me to use pages of my spellbook on this spell bump the damage to 1d4 per two levels (max 5d4) even then i'll usally go with hail of stone, colorspray, magic missle, mage armor, shield, ray of enfeeblement, grease, or mount those horses are so useful meat sheild, sitting off traps, saleing to a merchant on your way out of town, hualing loot and of course riding them.

 

[Sigurd]

SRD 2nd level psion for reference

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Energy_Stun

This is 2nd level.

Psychokinesis [see text]
Level: Psion/Wilder 2
Display: Auditory
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Area: 5-ft.-radius burst
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Reflex half or Fortitude half; see text
Power Resistance: Yes
Power Points: 3

Upon manifesting this power, you choose cold, electricity, fire, or sonic. You release a powerful stroke of the chosen energy type that encircles all creatures in the area, dealing 1d6 points of damage to each of them. In addition, any creature that fails its save for half damage must succeed on a Will save or be stunned for 1 round.

Cold: A stroke of this energy type deals +1 point of damage per die. The saving throw to reduce damage from a cold stun is a Fortitude save instead of a Reflex save.

Electricity: Manifesting a stroke of this energy type provides a +2 bonus to the save DC and a +2 bonus on manifester level checks for the purpose of overcoming power resistance.

Fire: A stroke of this energy type deals +1 point of damage per die.

Sonic: A stroke of this energy type deals –1 point of damage per die and ignores an object’s hardness.

This power’s subtype is the same as the type of energy you manifest.

Augment: For every additional power point you spend, this power’s damage increases by one die (d6) and its save DC increases by 1.


Compare to trip attack

And how does Stun compare to a fighter's trip attack. Considering this is a spell and can't be done a thousand times a day I don't think it would be unbalancing if this spell had the same strategic affect at range.


Sigurd