Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Lesser Shadow Conjuuration/Evocation
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 397745" data-attributes="member: 3051"><p>I had actually made something very similar IMC. When disbelieved it did zero damage and summoned stuff had 1 HP, same as yours. </p><p></p><p>to Mr. Fidgit: he's just following the pattern, the existing ones change by 20% per level. It doesn't make it a glamer; notice that summoned stuff still has a hit point, it IS physically there, but just very tenuously woven together from Shadow matter.</p><p></p><p>The problem is, these shadow spells are one level higher than the spells they can mimic, and that hurts you far more at lower levels than at high ones. The dual saving throws make it too weak; one of the nice things about Shades (the level 6 one) is that even though it gives two saves, the slight increase in DC and 60% damage on disbelief actually keeps the average damage about the same.</p><p></p><p>Let's say I use your Lesser Shadow Evocation to throw a Fireball. Let's also say that it's DC 18 (I have an 18 INT and it's a 4th-level spell). I'm fighting a guy with a +5 save in both Reflex and Will, meaning he needs a 13 to save either way (40% chance). So, there's a 40% chance the spell does nothing (disbelief), a 24% chance the spell does half damage (believed but made save) and a 36% chance the spell does full damage. Average damage, 48%.</p><p>A straight Fireball has a DC of one less (45% chance of save); average damage, 77.5%. So, by increasing a spell level, you decrease the average damage by about 40% in exchange for the flexibility.</p><p>(I assumed for every Spell Focus or Headband of Intellect you have, the target has an Iron Will or Gloves of Dexterity, so the odds balanced)</p><p>To make it worse, most characters have either a good Reflex save or a good Will save, so the average damage drops even further.</p><p></p><p>Overall, still a nice set of spells. Great for Sorcerers (especially the Lesser Shadow Evocation, since there are very few level 4 Evocations I'd want). I added a few more IMC:</p><p>Minor Shadow Magic: level 2, lets you cast any level 1 Sor/Wiz Conjuration OR Evocation at 0% reality on disbelief.</p><p>Major Shadow Magic: level 8, lets you cast any level 1-6 Sor/Wiz Conjuration OR Evocation at 80% reality on disbelief</p><p>Shadow Storm: level 9, cloud spell, does 4d6 Fire, 4d6 Cold, 4d6 Lightning, 2d6 Acid, and 2d6 Sonic damage (half on disbelief) to everyone inside</p><p></p><p>(I wanted to add a regular Shadow Magic at 5 that mimics 1-3 spells at 40%, but it overlaps way too much with the existing spells IMHO)</p><p></p><p>Add Shadow Walk at 7, and suddenly you have a Shadow Domain for Clerics (except that for them it mimics Cleric spells instead of Wizard ones). Granted Power could be adding Hide/Move Silently to your class list or inherent Darkvision 60' or something.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Spatzimaus, post: 397745, member: 3051"] I had actually made something very similar IMC. When disbelieved it did zero damage and summoned stuff had 1 HP, same as yours. to Mr. Fidgit: he's just following the pattern, the existing ones change by 20% per level. It doesn't make it a glamer; notice that summoned stuff still has a hit point, it IS physically there, but just very tenuously woven together from Shadow matter. The problem is, these shadow spells are one level higher than the spells they can mimic, and that hurts you far more at lower levels than at high ones. The dual saving throws make it too weak; one of the nice things about Shades (the level 6 one) is that even though it gives two saves, the slight increase in DC and 60% damage on disbelief actually keeps the average damage about the same. Let's say I use your Lesser Shadow Evocation to throw a Fireball. Let's also say that it's DC 18 (I have an 18 INT and it's a 4th-level spell). I'm fighting a guy with a +5 save in both Reflex and Will, meaning he needs a 13 to save either way (40% chance). So, there's a 40% chance the spell does nothing (disbelief), a 24% chance the spell does half damage (believed but made save) and a 36% chance the spell does full damage. Average damage, 48%. A straight Fireball has a DC of one less (45% chance of save); average damage, 77.5%. So, by increasing a spell level, you decrease the average damage by about 40% in exchange for the flexibility. (I assumed for every Spell Focus or Headband of Intellect you have, the target has an Iron Will or Gloves of Dexterity, so the odds balanced) To make it worse, most characters have either a good Reflex save or a good Will save, so the average damage drops even further. Overall, still a nice set of spells. Great for Sorcerers (especially the Lesser Shadow Evocation, since there are very few level 4 Evocations I'd want). I added a few more IMC: Minor Shadow Magic: level 2, lets you cast any level 1 Sor/Wiz Conjuration OR Evocation at 0% reality on disbelief. Major Shadow Magic: level 8, lets you cast any level 1-6 Sor/Wiz Conjuration OR Evocation at 80% reality on disbelief Shadow Storm: level 9, cloud spell, does 4d6 Fire, 4d6 Cold, 4d6 Lightning, 2d6 Acid, and 2d6 Sonic damage (half on disbelief) to everyone inside (I wanted to add a regular Shadow Magic at 5 that mimics 1-3 spells at 40%, but it overlaps way too much with the existing spells IMHO) Add Shadow Walk at 7, and suddenly you have a Shadow Domain for Clerics (except that for them it mimics Cleric spells instead of Wizard ones). Granted Power could be adding Hide/Move Silently to your class list or inherent Darkvision 60' or something. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Lesser Shadow Conjuuration/Evocation
Top