Greater Shadow Evocation and Metamagics

[Shaele]

No, you could mimic a spell that you had researched according to the rules for researching a new spell, that might perhaps be a 5th level 15d6 Fireball, depending on whether your DM felt that it was a reasonable spell.

No research, no new spell.

-Hyp.

Not sure I buy that. Do you only let a sorcerer mimic a spell that she knows how to cast? That she's seen before?

What's the difference between a spell that's in the PH that she's never seen before, and a spell of the right level and effect that she's just made up? If you introduce a new expansion book into the campaign, is she allowed to them mimic spells from that book as well?

Gets messy pretty quickly

 

[Hypersmurf]

What's the difference between a spell that's in the PH that she's never seen before, and a spell of the right level and effect that she's just made up?

A spell that actually exists in the campaign - whether she's seen it or not - could, by the game mechanics, be identified in the few seconds while it is being cast both Stilled and Silenced (if you use the Tome and Blood -4 rules).

The Spellcraft skill assumes some knowledge of every spell in existence.

It doesn't give you knowledge of every spell that doesn't exist.

By the rules, a rank in Spellcraft gives you a little information about every spell the DM allows in the campaign. If you haven't researched a new spell, it doesn't exist, and you can't emulate it.

-Hyp.

 

[Pielorinho]

I'm with Hypersmurf on this one. Although it's a little bit unrealistic, it's a big save in the headache department. Otherwise, the spell can be used to emulate spells that have not been researched yet -- i.e., spells that I as a DM have not had time to sit down and think about yet.

By limiting it only to spells that have been researched (i.e., that I as a DM have decided to allow in my campaign), I can keep a handle on it.

If some player decided to be a butt about it, then I'd further limit them to spells that they'd encountered, in order to satisfy the realism requirement. But I'd only do that if the player were insisting on realism.

Daniel