Lesser Gate: A New Spell (critiques, please?)

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Hey-- my group in midst of some complicated planning and we need a spell that operates like Gate but allows travel from one point to another on the same plane...

And so, here is my brand new spell-- a combination of Gate and Teleport-- can I get some critiques?

Thanks!

Lesser Gate

Conjuration

Level: Clr 7, Sor/Wiz 7 Casting Time: 1 full round action Range: Short (25 ft. + 5 ft./level) Effect: See text Duration: Up to 1 round/level Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: No

Casting a single planar gate spell creates an interdimensional connection between two points on the plane you are currently in, allowing travel between those two points in a single direction.

The gate itself is an oval-shaped hoop or disk from 5 to 20 feet in diameter (caster's choice), oriented in the direction you desire when it comes into existence (typically vertical and facing you). It is a two-dimensional window providing a murky and somewhat distorted picture of what exists on either side. Anyone or anything that moves through is shunted instantly and forcefully to the other side. Sound does not travel through the gate.

A gate has a front and a back. Creatures moving through the gate from the front are transported to the gate's destination; creatures moving through it from the back are not.

You may hold the gate open only for a brief time (no more than 1 round per caster level).

Once the caster steps through the gate, it closes behind her instantly. Anyone attempting to enter the gate as it closes must make a reflex save DC 17 or be subjected to a “mishap.” For more details on “mishaps,” please see below.

You must have some clear idea of the location and layout of the portal's opening. The clearer your mental image, the more likely the portal will open in the caster's chosen location.

To see how well the lesser gate works, roll d% and consult the Lesser Gate table (same as teleportation table in PhB). Refer to the following information for definitions of the terms on the table.

Familiarity: "Very familiar" is a place where you have been very often and where you feel at home. "Studied carefully" is a place you know well, either because you can currently see it, you've been there often, or you have used other means (such as scrying) to study the place for at least one hour. "Seen casually" is a place that you have seen more than once but with which you are not very familiar. "Viewed once" is a place that you have seen once, possibly using magic.

"False destination" is a place that does not truly exist or if you opening a gate to an otherwise familiar location that no longer exists as such or has been so completely altered as to no longer be familiar to you. When traveling to a false destination, roll 1d20+80 to obtain results on the table, rather than rolling d%, since there is no real destination for you to hope to arrive at or even be off target from.

On Target: The gate opens to the destination you desire.

Off Target: The gate opens to a location a random distance away from the destination in a random direction. Distance off target is 1d10x1d10% of the distance that was to be traveled. The direction off target is determined randomly

Similar Area: The gate opens in an area that's visually or thematically similar to the target area.

Generally, the gate opens in the closest similar place within range. If no such area exists within the spell's range, the spell simply fails instead.

Mishap: The gate appears to open to the correct location, but anyone stepping through for the duration of the spell is "scrambled." Everyone stepping through takes 1d10 points of damage, and you reroll on the chart to see where you wind up. For these rerolls, roll 1d20+80. Each time "Mishap" comes up, the characters take more damage and must reroll.
 

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I'm just wondering what's wrong with Teleportation Circle. It's a spell that lasts a while, it teleports those who enter (without save), and it's one-way.
 

Looks good. On a nitpicker level, Range should also have a semi-colon followed by Unlimited, meaning the destination has no limit on the current plane.

Forcefully shunted? i.e., they gain momentum on the other side, or once a significant portion of them crosses the plane of the opening they are simply transported in toto?

I'd probably add that no momentum is carried - i.e., you can't target and fire arrows through the gate to the destination and retain their angle and momentum. Thus, unattended inanimate material simply arrives at the local without velocity or momentum. Likewise, spell effects should consider it a disruption of line of effect even if the exit locale is within the range of such, thus preventing usage as a Interdimensional Meteor Swarm Delivery System.

In other regards it's a good combo travel spell. And sounds like it's specifically what you were looking for yesterday.

A word of warning, if you are doing what you were mentioning in your other thread, there may be increased chance of actually sending them to their real hideout rather than your cleverly disguised prison since the whole purpose would be to make it visually and thematically similar. But that's just the evil DM in me speaking.

The One Warlock

EDIT: PS: It should also have the [Teleportation] descriptor after school.
Staffan, from QD's thread yesterday she needs a spell where her travellers get to see their destination before transit.
 
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Somehow, there are multiples of this thread... so, if one of you ever loving moderators wanted to shut those two down, I'm going to repost this particular thread in House Rules where it belongs.

:)
 

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