NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 8284838" data-attributes="member: 20323">Thanks! Really appreciate your feedback.I'm curious what you think I could do to make Hallowed Grounds land squarely as a 4th level spell?My thinking was that it can be used to (a) get a feel for a trap's effect, (b) determine what sort of bodies aren't immediately obvious / underground for necromantic purposes, and (c) to function like a very focused / limited set of questions evocative of speak with dead (3rd), but not requiring a corpse. That's what lead to me penning it as one level higher than speak with dead. But I see your point that's it's not quite landing there.Ooo, nice, that's a beautiful addition Steampunkette. Great idea. Thanks!Yeah, there are some great spells out there.How are you comparing Sanctify Spirit Host to <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/guards-and-wards" target="_blank">guards and wards</a>? I ask because guards and wards doesn't create enemies or directly damage effects, so I hadn't initially thought to use it as the point of comparison.So my point of comparison was the 6th level planar ally spell, the 6th level summon fiend spell, and the 6th level conjure fey spell. I definitely agree there needs to be some limits on the Shabti construct, and probably more precise language in the spell. Let me run through my comparison thoughts quickly for each of those spells...Planar Ally can summon a variety of creatures (+), but the creature is free willed (-). It's 10 minutes to cast and no costly material component (+), but securing the creature's service for a day could cost 10,000 gp if it's interested in gold (-). And the creature can be any CR (+), but there's effectively an XP cost, as the creature gains an equal share of the party's XP (-).Summon fiend summons a fiendish spirit that's weaker than CR 8 (-), but scales with your level (+). It can be cast quickly as an action with just a 600 gp material component (+), but only lasts for an hour and requires concentration (-). Language is that it is an "ally", but stops short of calling it "friendly" like conjure fey. It also acts immediately after your turn, rather than independently.Conjure fey summons a CR 6 fey (or fey in beast's clothing) which is weaker than CR 8 (-), but is "friendly" towards your party and obeys all verbal commands you give it (+). It can be cast quickly as an action with no costly material component (+), but only lasts for an hour and requires concentration, and it turns hostile if you lose control (-)....In comparison, Create Shabti creates a loyal servant (+), but it can only create one specific type of creature (-). That  creature is a CR 8 construct (+), but the construct can only manifest in the Outer Planes (-). It's 12 hours to cast with an upfront material cost of 5,000 gp (-), but with an indefinite period of service (+)..Yeah, that one was tricky to evaluate. My gut feel also was 4th level. While I did have misty step in the back of my mind, I was actually imagining the character being in one of the four central squares of a fireball (20-foot radius) vs. in one of the central squares of a cone of cold (60-foot radius); the idea being that they could teleport completely clear of a fireball but not clear of the cone of cold. The other idea I had was of teleporting to get clear of a trap's area of effect.</blockquote>

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